


What's in a name?

by Band007



Category: Laramie (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-13
Updated: 2020-03-13
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:07:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 22,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23130679
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Band007/pseuds/Band007
Summary: Jess can't remember what's happened in the last five months. The kicker? He'd wanted for the murder of one Slim Sherman. Note: No Character Death
Relationships: Jess Harper/Slim Sherman
Kudos: 8





	What's in a name?

**“What’s in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”**

**-Shakespeare**

Blood was everywhere… He choked thinking of how he had to stop the bleeding but couldn't. He pressed down harder on the wound, only to be met with more blood spilling over his hands. His partners life blood continued its flow unchecked onto the floor. This was it, there was no chance in the world his partner would survive.

"No, no, no, no." There was nothing but an empty house to answer his weak pleas. "I didn't mean it! Oh, what did I do!"

Jess raced into the kitchen and threw open drawers upon drawers trying to find bandages. Finally after finding the right drawer, he pulled out all the strips of cloth and raced back to where Slim lay dying. Jess pulled hard on the cloth covering Slim that used to be a shirt despite the various holes through it.

Quick hands pulled a strip of cloth off the pile and folded it neatly to form a compress. Before pulling a second strip off the pile and he began to wrap it around Slim's chest; pulling Slim up against his own chest. Inwardly, he cursed his accuracy as he tied off the end of the cloth.

"Jess? Slim?" Mort's voice drew Jess to the window.

Mort sat on Choncho in the yard looking around; his tin badge shining brightly in the sun. Fear trickled through Jess as he looked down at his shaking hands and ruined shirt covered in Slim's blood. His foot hit his newly fired gun lying on the floor beside Slim. Jess backed away from the window far enough where he could watch Mort and not be seen. Slim needed help, there was no denying that. But he knew if Mort knew he was here, he'd be arrested for sure.

Freedom or friendship?

* * *

In the end it was Slim that decided what Jess should do. The sight of his face getting paler by the moment and the pool of blood spreading on the floor was too much. He had to get help for Slim even if it meant he would risk getting caught by the law. Silently, Jess walked over to the desk Slim used for Stage business and fished out paper and a pencil. He didn't want to leave Slim like this but he had no choice.

_ Tell Slim I'm sorry for everything. I got in over my head. _

_ -Jess _

Behind him he could hear the sounds of Mort tying his horse to the rail and walking onto the porch. Jess rushed over to the fireplace next to Slim; not caring he was going to be heard, and dropped the note by his 'working rig' and then picked up a split piece of wood. He needed to be fast but he also had to make sure Mort had a reason to come inside.

Jess jammed the wood up under the false overhang built into the mantle. Pulling out his gun wrapped in a thick cloth he deliberately dropped the piece of wood so it made a noise. Through the curtain Jess caught Mort's puzzled gaze.

"Jess!" As the door to the ranch house opened Jess was already halfway to the barn.

On the top of the rise above the barn, Jess halted and looked back over the ranch that had become his home for the last three years. Then he spurred Traveler and rode off making sure he put as much distance between himself and the posse he knew was sure to follow.

**Chapter 2**

Marshal Devin Conner was having a bad day. He was tired, cold, hungry, dirty, and outright mad. He'd been chasing the same outlaw for over three months and right when he felt like he was about to catch his man, he'd missed him. Never in his life had he had such a hard time catching the fugitive he'd been assigned to. To make matters worse that annoying Sheriff from Laramie had been constantly bugging him for information. He reined his horse to a stop and unstoppered his canteen. Jess Harper was no easy fugitive to run down.

Lifting his canteen to his lips, Marshal Devin could smell smoke.  _ Why would there be smoke out here? _ His thirst forgotten, he hung the canteen back across the saddle horn and dismounted. Hope swirled in his heart as he wondered if he'd caught a break catching Harper.  _ Why would Harper dodge dozens of lawmen over a series of months and then throw it all away now? It's probably just some drifter or saddle tramp. Harper isn't that stupid. _ Yet, he couldn't move on without running down all possibilities. Determined to find out who it was, he stalked forward towards the smoke.

Coming to the top of the hill, Devin layed down on his stomach and crawled forward on his hands and knees. Peering down into the canyon below a small camp was set up deep in the treeline making it almost invisible except for the white smoke wafting through the trees. A familiar bay horse was grazing in the long grass confirming it was Harper. Marshal Devin pushed himself backwards until he was away from the camp far enough to stand up without being seen. There was no doubt about it Harper was the person who was camped down in the bottom of the canyon. Heaven knows he'd seen the hind end of that horse for months.

What was Harper doing? This wasn’t like the man he’d been chasing for months. Was he giving up the chase or was he setting up an ambush? He had no idea what to do. The canyon walls were too steep to walk down them safely and not risk being seen or heard. He’d have to find another way in before daybreak.

* * *

Jess Harper leaned against the old log pulled beside the fire with his hat low over his eyes. His head ached reminding him of the blow he’d taken early this morning. Shifting uncomfortably, Jess rolled his shoulder in an attempt to take some strain off it grimacing at the fresh bullet wound. He’d forgotten what it was like to have a nice warm house to come back to every night.

“Get your hands up in the air or I’ll shoot!” The sound of a hammer being pulled back made Jess’ spine straighten. Warily, Jess raised his hands up in the air. More than anything, he wanted to see who was holding a gun on him but his hat prevented him from doing so. “Alright, use one hand to throw your gun over towards me. Only use fingertips or this gun goes off!

Still unable to see, Jess groped for the handle of his gun he knew was somewhere near his leg. Eventually finding it, he carefully picked the gun up as instructed, and threw it in the vicinity of the voice. Jess heard the thump of the gun hitting the ground and listened carefully as he thought about how to get out of this mess. A pair of footsteps shuffled forwards to pick up what Jess assumed was his gun.

“Stand up and face your back to me.” Pushing himself to a standing position, Jess gave into the urge to push his hat up farther onto his head before turning around. “Put your hands behind your back and don’t move.”

Begrudgingly, Jess put his hands behind his back and felt cold metal cuffs snap tightly over his wrists. Course hands pressed down hard on his bound hands making sure they were as tight as they could go. Pain shot through his injured shoulder at the rude action.

“Watch it Mister.” Jess growled a warning to the stranger. “Who are you anyway?”

“Oh, come off it Harper you know who I am!” Puzzled, Jess turned around to face a large man. Jess’ gaze stopped at the lead badge pinned to his vest.  _ A lawman? Why would a lawman be after him? _

“What are you arresting me for?” Jess pulled against the restraints wished he could have a chance to put some sense into the man before something bad happened. “Listen, whatever you think I did let me tell you straight. I haven’t done anything wrong! If you don’t believe me you have to send a telegram to Slim Sherman in Laramie. He’ll back me up!”

“If you keep yammering nonsense I’ll stuff your mouth shut.” The man roughly shoved Jess onto the log by the fire as he walked through the camp and started to go through all of Jess belongings.

“Yammering nonsense? What’s going on here and who are you?” Jess awkwardly stood only to be pushed down into the dirt. “You can’t just waltz into someone’s camp and arrest them for no reason!”

“First of all, my name is Marshal Devin Conners. Second, I have a reason to arrest you since you decided to up and try to kill someone and then dodge one posse after another. I was tasked by the Marshal’s Office to track you down and take you to Laramie for trial. You’re a prisoner of the Territory of Wyoming.” Marshal Devin stood and yanked Jess to his feet.

Jess was pushed to a young tree at the edge of the camp and gruffly told to sit. After unlocking one hand the Marshal wrapped Jess arms around the trunk of the tree before locking them again.

“Please! Just send a telegram to Slim Sherman at the Sherman Relay Station in Laramie, he’ll vouch for me. If you can’t send a message to Slim then send it to Mort Cory; he’s the Sheriff in Laramie!”

The Marshal looked down at Jess with look of anger. “No one’s going to couch for you Harper. And certainly not Mr. Sherman.”

“Why?!”

“Because Slim Sherman is the man you shot.”

**Chapter 3**

Mort Cory rode comfortably through the warm shadows casted by the tall trees lining the road to the Sherman Ranch. His daily venturings to the Sherman Ranch had become routine after his rounds were complete in town. Never in his wildest dreams would he have thought Jess would do something like this.

As he rounded the side of the Sherman Ranch house his eyes caught the figure of Slim sitting in the sun. Tight cloths bound his right arm to Slim's chest to keep it protected from being injured further.

"Howdy Slim." The vacant look in Skin's eyes told Mort the answer to the question he was going to ask.

"Mort." Stiffly, Slim stood from his comfortable chair on the porch and grasped the rail. "You don't have to come and check up on us."

"You need my help around here until that arm gets better. Did the Doc tell you when you'd be able to start working with the stage teams?"

"He said I'd be good to go at the end of the week." Slim gestured for Mort to get down and come inside. "Daisy'd be real mad if I didn't ask you to come in."

Following Slim into the house, Mort's gaze unintentionally stopped at the fireplace where no long ago he'd worked to save his friends life.  _ Why would Jess shoot Slim, patch him back together, and  _ _ then _ _ run to save his neck without bothering to explain? If you were innocent, then why would you run and make yourself look guilty? Especially when you had a good reputation… _

"I never got to thank you Mort." Slim beside him was staring at the fireplace with the same look Mort had. "Doctor Martin said if you hadn't tried to stop the bleeding I'd be six feet under right now."  _ And Jess would be guilty of murder instead of attempted murder. _

"I didn't do much for you honest. It was all taken care of before I got there." In both senses of the word... "Slim I know I've asked you this over and over again but was Jess acting strangely before you were shot? Do you remember anything?"

"That's just it Mort. There was no sign at all." Slim scraped the wooden floor with the toe of his boot. "It was a normal day like any other. Jess left just after breakfast to check some fences on the south side where the main herd was. We were joking around as usual and then he left saying he'd be back before lunch to help with the noon stage. And then I heard Jess' voice and then nothing. I'm sorry Mort I don't remember anything more."

"I'm sorry for dragging it all up again I was just hoping there was something..." Mort broke off not daring to finish.

"...there was something to prove Jess didn't try to kill me." Slim finished the sentence for Mort.

"Sheriff Cory! I thought I heard another voice in here." Daisy into the room and pushed Slim into one of the several chairs in the room. "Now Slim, I thought I made it clear you were to stay sitting down or I'll tie you down so help me!"

Slim rolled his eyes and sank into the chair he'd been bodily shoved into with a pointed look at Mort. Chuckling, Mort watched as Daisy made a fuss getting Slim comfortable while badgering him to take it easy.

"Sheriff can I get you anything?" Swallowing his laughter on how Slim was being treated, he shook his head.

"No ma'am. I just came to see how Slim was getting along and see if you folks needed some help keeping up the place." Daisy had the charms to keep a man at the ranch for a full day when he expected to only be there for an hour.

"Oh nonsense. I'll get you something to eat." Before Mort could stop her, Daisy had already disappeared into the kitchen not caring to hear a word Mort said.

"I told you Mort, Daisy ain't one to take no for an answer."

Seconds later Mort felt himself being tugged to the kitchen table and a plate of pie shoved into his hands. As Mort ate he watched Slim stare holes into the wooden floor and absentmindedly rub his left shoulder.

* * *

By the time morning came, Jess' shoulder felt like someone was holding a hot poker to it. Across the campground he watched the Marshal tend to both his own mount and Traveler and clean up camp. Marshal Devin wasn't new to his job, that fact was plain to see. The Marshal was very careful about how close he got to Jess and about always keeping himself between the guns and Jess. Jess wondered how many outlaws this man had run down and brought back to face trial.

Jess shifted his aching back in a new position around the spiky pine tree, as he tried to take as much pressure off his wounded shoulder as he could with his bound hands. Racking his brain, Jess thought about what he remembered last.

_ Plates of eggs, toast, and bacon were on the table in front of him and he ate facing a tall man. Was there a young boy sitting beside him? _

"You in a cooperative mood?" The Marshal stood in front of him, blocking out the bright sunlight hitting Jess' eyes. "It looks like the Sheriff in Rawlins put a fair sized hole in your shoulder there."

Marshal Conner knelt down beside Jess and looked at his prisoner warily. He made sure the hip that carried his gun was as far from his prisoner as possible and leaned forward to check the cuffs that held Jess' hands secure. A soft tug confirmed the cuffs were still locked and Marshal Conner rocked back on his heels. The wild, caged look in Jess Harper's eyes made the Marshal unsure how to continue.

Many lawmen had no thought to care for their prisoners figuring they would eventually reach the gallows anyway but that wasn't Marshals Conner's style. It didn't matter what these men had done or not they were still human beings and they deserve respect.

"Look son, I know I'm the farthest thing from a friend to you right now but that shoulder needs tending to. I'm going to clean and dress it whether I do it with your cooperation or not." With his hands tied behind him, Jess really had no say in the matter but he wasn't going to tell the Marshal that.

Reaching forward, Marshal Conner unbuttoned Jess' shirt and pushed his ratty coat aside, exposing the mutilated skin. Running a hand over the back of Jess' shoulder, the Marshal searched for an exit wound. His brow furrowed when no exit wound was found hinting the bullet was lodged inside Jess shoulder.

Jess watched as the Marshal removed a flask from the inside of his own coat and then pulled out a strip of rawhide. The Marshals comment about a Sheriff shooting him didn't make any sense to his sluggish mind. Jess stiffened as the strip of rawhide was shoved into his mouth and the Marshal shifted closer with a pocket knife clutched in his right hand and the flask in his left.

**Chapter 4**

Pain buzzed through every nerve in his body. His vision was blurry and distorted making his head pound harder. Bit by bit as the world around him became clearer Jess realized he was laying on his back. Groaning, he brought his hand to his aching shoulder and found his hands were free.

"I wouldn't." The Marshal gently stopped him from grinding his hand into his shoulder preventing him from causing more damage to the fresh wound. "I spent the better half of the morning digging that bullet out and I'm not going to let you undo all my hard work keeping you from bleeding out."

"My hands...why?" His voice cracked and he coughed and hacked.

A canteen of water was pressed to his lips and he swallowed eagerly. The cool liquid quenched his thirst and felt good on his parched throat. Vaguely he wondered how long it had been since he'd drank anything.

"I uncuffed your hands to tend your shoulder. I needed you flat on the ground to properly bandage your bullet wound.

"You're a brave man Marshal, not many would have thought they could deal with an unrestrained outlaw like me." Marshal Devin peered under his bandaged shoulder and then looked down at Jess.

"I don't figure you Harper. You've said the strangest things ever since I caught up with you. Either you have a death wish or you're just plain self destructive. I can't haul you off to Laramie with that shoulder, and not to mention the big lump on the back of your skull. If I move you, you'll either fall off your horse, break your neck, or bleed to death. Let's face it, you don't even have the strength to sit up, you couldn't get away if you tried."

Tired, Jess pressed his face into the saddle he was leaning against. Any comment he had planned left him. Expecting no answer, the Marshal stood up.

"I'll be back later with some dinner." Marshal Conner left Jess' side and started rummaging through saddle bags of food and utensils.

_ It's gonna be a long ride to Laramie... No one was going to believe him... _

Two days had come and gone and Jess' shoulder and head had healed enough for the pair to be on the road headed to Laramie. Thrust into the saddle, Jess barely had a chance to blink away the small headache that still pounded behind his eyes before the cold feel of metal cuffs were snapped back around his wrists. Marshal Conner gathered the reins that tethered Traveler and then swung into his own saddle.

"Alright Harper, let's get this over with." Clicking his tongue at the mounts, Marshal Conner wrapped the reins around the saddle horn and headed towards the narrow trail leading outside of the canyon, leaving Jess nothing to do but watch the scenery slip by.

"What's your story anyway?" Marshal Conner's voice ahead of him pulled Jess' attention away from the green vegetation around him.

An instinct cultivated since Jess started to drift, tensed inside him sending his senses into overdrive. A nervous tick he didn't know he had; manifested itself as his fingers rapped against the hard leather saddle horn at his gut. There was a time when he'd begun to trust a man who wore a badge, but those days were over. No longer did he see a badge as a form of protection and friendship, it was a sign of pending punishment.

"You can do this the easy way or the hard way." A long pause passed making it clear Jess wasn't in the mood for talking. "The way I reckon it, it'll take a good week, maybe more, to reach Laramie. The time'll pass quicker if you carry on some conversation with me, or are you mad I put the cuffs back on? If I knew you were that sensitive I would've apologized before I put them on."

Jess chewed the inside of his lip, considering how to continue. Maybe Conner would give up and leave him alone to stew in silence if he ignored him. Minutes passed as Jess' stubbornness refused to give up 'ground' to the opposing side.

"You're as stubborn as a mule you know that?" Marshal Conner sighed and pulled the horses to a halt. "I've met corpses who are more social than you."

Jess set his jaw and refused to take the Marshal bait. If he told the Marshal that he was innocent he wouldn't believe him. No one was going to buy the story that he didn't remember a single thing about the last few weeks. He knew there was a definite chance when he reached Laramie he'd be hung or put in jail for a crime he didn't remember if he commited or not. They were going to take away his freedom, or his life, and he wasn't going to be robbed of anything more.

"Look boy, I've been nothing but kind to you." The Marshals iron strong hand gripped Jess' vest angrily. "Many lawmen would've let you rot and die of your wounds without a second thought. Once someone earns a dead or alive bounty their head, many would rather collect the bounty with a dead man than a live one. The truth is, you have more at stake here than I do. The least you could do is treat me as good as I've treated you. Got it?"

Jess nodded a defiant yes and watched the seething lawman in front of him. Every honed instinct he had warned him to get away as fast as he could but the iron cuffs on his wrists reminded him that wish wasn't practical.

"I can't make you talk about what you don't want to talk about but the least you could do is talk to me about the weather. How many times must I remind you I'm not your enemy?" Jess leaned back in the saddle when the Marshal released him. "So...where were you raised?"

**Chapter 5**

"Let me get this straight...you don't remember anything? Nothing at all about what happened?" A critical look was shot in his direction.

"That's what I'm saying." Jess confirmed. "The last thing I remember is leaving the house after breakfast to check the fences. Then I woke up with a pounding headache so I made camp where you found me. I didn't even know I was a wanted man until you arrested me." He raised his cuffed hands to emphasize his point.

Marshal Conner stared Jess down as he decided whether he believed the story or not. He had to admit it was a lot to take in. He'd be a fool to take this tale in at face value only. Marshal Conner had lived too long as a marshal to believe a story like this but...it made sense. It all made sense right down to how easy it seemed to catch his fugitive without very much of a fight.

"Do you have any proof you didn't shoot Sherman?"

"I...You..." Jess stuttered. Was there a chance he actually shot and tried to kill Slim? Could he... "I don't know if I did or not Marshal. Honesty, there may be a chance I actually did do what they accuse me of. I don't remember what happened enough to clear or convict myself. For all I know I could be guilty."

A long silence passed as the conversation faded. Far on the mountain peaks the last rays of the sun were hiding. Marshal Conner halted the horses and gestured for Jess to climb down and take a seat on one of the fallen logs at the edge of the chosen campsite.

Silently, Jess watched as the saddles were stripped off the horses and placed under the shelter of a few large pines. A long length of rope was removed from the saddle bags and used to loosely hobble the horses so they could eat plenty of grass and water. Finally, Marshal Conner finished with the horses and brought the saddle bags full of food and cooking supplies to the fire ring.

"Why don't you go gather some firewood? But I'll warn you right now, you have more to lose than I do."

Nodding slightly, Jess stood and wandered around collecting wood, made difficult by the restraints. Returning back to the campfire, Jess dropped the wood beside Marshal Conner who had just lit the kindling inside the fire ring.

"That all?" Jess held back a scoff as he fought the anger rising inside. If the predicament was different he'd 've throddeled the Marshal here and now for his comment.

"It'll see us through." Jess bit out.

Slumping down onto his vacated log, Jess regretted telling the Marshal the truth. Marshal Conner hadn't said a single word to him since he'd finished his story. Then, counting in the curt words and commands he had said made it perfectly clear. He didn't believe a single word...

It looks like his chances to have a fair trial were getting slimmer and slimmer. At this rate he'd be lucky to survive getting to the Laramie jail before they lynched him. A plate of beans was shoved into his hands taking his attention away from feeling sorry for himself. Silently, he ate his dinner without tasting half of it. Once he was finished, Jess set his plate down on the rocks lining the firepit beside the Marshals own discarded one.

"So...about what you said earlier..."  _ Here we go.  _ "You drive a very convincing story. I want to believe it, I really do but I can't. Maybe it's because I've been a lawman for so long, I don't take anyone or anything at face value." Marshal Conner rested his hands against his face and toed his half eaten food. "I want to help you but there's no proof you did or didn't do what they accused you of. Like it or not, you're going to Laramie to stand trial for attempted murder."

Despair sank in the pit of Jess' stomach like a rock. That was it. His chance to have someone fight on his side over. Plain and simple, he was a doomed man. Stoically, Jess let the Marshal cuff him again to a tree and stared at his lap as the Marshal walked over to his blankets at the roaring fire. The crackle and hiss of the sparks covered Jess' heart broken words.

"Do what you have to Marshal..."

* * *

Mort Cory about jumped out of his skin when Ronny Walker opened the door with a telegraph in his hands. Having an office on main street meant Mort should have been prepared, if not expecting, anyone to walk in at any time day or night. Well, then Mort expected someone to walk in when he wasn't sleeping on the job with a trail of spit sliding down his chin, and completely unaware of the world around him.

"Sheriff." Ronny's gaze was fixed on the trail of spit. "A telegram came for you, I brought it by like you requested."

Mort brushed away the spit with the back of his hand and reached for the outstretched telegram in Ronny's hand. It wasn't until Ronny had left the office when he tore open the paper covering and read.

_ Jess Harper arrested  _ _ stop _ _ en route to Laramie  _ _ stop _ _ leaving Casper before end of week  _ _ stop _ _ Marshal Conner  _ _ full stop _

Mort dropped the telegram to his desk and brushed a hand through his tousled hair. Jess had been caught. Jess was on his way back to Laramie as a prisoner of the Territory, mixed emotions churned through him at the thought. Not only that, as the Sheriff, Mort would be responsible for keeping his own friend locked up for trial. Things couldn't get any more complicated than that.

Mort picked up his hat off the desk and wrote a note to tack up on the front door in case someone needed him. With a final look around the office, he made a beeline for the livery stable.

He needed to tell Slim.

**Chapter 6**

_ Three steps right. _

_ Five steps forward. _

_ Three steps left. _

_ Five steps back. _

Jess paced back and forth across the floor of the jail cell. He'd been stuck in the cell for less than an hour and already he was going stir crazy.

_ Three steps right... _ Marshal Conner after dragging him into Casper the following afternoon, had ordered a cell for him at the local Sheriff's office and then disappeared. At least he'd promised to come back...

Five steps forward...Rolling his injured shoulder carefully he grasped the bars and leaned forward against them hoping there was a chance they were unlocked. No such luck.

_ Three steps left... _

Of all the rotten things that had happened to him this took the cake. Here he was, hundreds of miles away from Laramie; a place he thought was his home, and was locked up in a musty, mouse ridden, stinkin' jail house at the mercy of a Marshal who was as stubborn as a mule!

Five steps back...What now? Was he just going to roll over and play dead because they refused to listen? As hard as it was to admit, this situation was out of his control and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Len." The entrance of Marshal Conner did nothing to lift his mood.

The cells were located at the back of the building, separating the front of the shop from the cells by a thick oak door. Jess stared holes into the oak door that separated him from the front of the building. It wasn't the first time since being shoved into this cell, he'd wished the door was open so he didn't have to strain to hear what the Sheriff and Marshal were saying.

"Dev." Jess rolled his eyes. Here I am about to be prosecuted for a crime he didn't commit; at least not to his knowledge, and the lawmen were exchanging nicknames. "I thought you'd never get back."

"I know I'm late, it couldn't be helped. First, I went to get the horses stabled; do you know that blacksmith charges two bits a horse?"

"I know, but he's the only blacksmith in town so he can charge whatever price he wants without competition. Anyway you were saying..." Len urged him on.

"Well, after I paid the blacksmith I remembered I had to send a telegram to Laramie so the Sheriff knew we were coming. Do you know I stood in line to send my telegram for half an hour?" The sound of wood creaking could be heard and Jess assumed the Marshal had sat down. "Then I went to the cafe to get something to eat and the hostess there practically forced the food down my throat. She kept rambling on about her food being wasted for something..."

"Let me guess she talked you into the pecan pie?" Dry humor could be detected in the Sheriff's voice.

"Sure did. There isn't enough to drink in the world, that could make the pie go down any easier."

"Yep, I know what you mean. I hardly lived through my slice of pie a couple days ago. I don't understand why she baked another one."

"The way this tasted, it's probably the same pie you ate." The Marshal's laughter echoed through the jail.

"So, how's Harper?" Anticipating he would have company soon Jess plopped down on the thin, hard mattress.

"Sure ain't much of a talkative fellow is he? Haven't heard a single word out of him since you brought him in. I wish all my prisoners were so quiet." A jingle of what Jess assumed was the keys, announced the presence of the Marshal before he pushed the door to the cells further open.

The familiar face of the Marshal appeared through the iron bars. Behind Marshal Conner was Sheriff Len. Not wanting to feel like a circus animal put on display to be gawked at, Jess stretched out on his back and stared up at the concrete roof.

"Is the Sheriff taking good care of you?" Marshal Conner's tone was kind, but Jess didn't want to carry on idle conversation. He was the prisoner, not the sideshow entertainment. Sheriff Len spoke up when Jess said nothing.

"He should be thankful I sent to the Saloon for dinner rather than making him eat food from the Cafe. I saved his stomach a lot of pain."

Despite Jess' effort not to, one side of his mouth quirked upwards in a smile. It reminded him of... Jess shook himself. That path in his life was closing fast. If it hadn't completely ended already. What if it was true? Could he have really shot Slim. They said he shot Slim so they had to be right.

"I telegraphed Laramie to let them know we'd be leaving soon." Marshal Conner scratched his head. "I thought you'd like to know."

"Why should I?"

"I thought you'd tell me more about when you supposedly shot Slim Sherman."

"Why do you care? You told me yesterday you wouldn't help me because there was no proof to my story." Jess turned over on his side, watching the Sheriff and Marshal.

"I changed my mind. I want to find out if you shot Sherman. The least me looking into things could do is save your life."

"Don't waste your time Marshal. As you said, there's no reason to believe my story so why bother? I'm a criminal, it's high time I accepted the fact I belong here." Jess spread his arms to emphasize the thick iron bars that enclosed him. "You gotta keep me from endangering the public."

"Jess, what's gotten into you?" Marshal Conner looked like Jess had gone mad.

"Nothin' Marshal your just seeing the real Jess Harper. You know, the one who tried to kill his best friend and partner." Sarcasm dripped from his words.

"I'll send for the Doc to look over your injuries..." Marshal Conner said dully and pulled the thick oak door closed behind him.

Jess never moved a muscle as the lock on the door clicked shut, isolating him from the world of happiness and friendship.

* * *

"I don't understand it Len." Marshal Conner sat down on the edge of the Sheriff's desk. "Jess Harper isn't the same man who I've been trailing for weeks on end. He gave me one of the longest chases I've ever had in my career. He ran out of Rawlins with a hole in his shoulder and set up camp over five miles out of town. Then he just gives up?"

"Oh come on Dev. What is it about this one that gets under your skin? You've brought in dozens of men without questioning whether they were guilty or not. Why now? You heard what he said."

"I heard him say he gave up the fight to prove his innocence." He stood up and walked to the window; staring at the rising sun over the buildings. "I don't believe it."

"Believe what?" Len came to stand by Marshal Conner.

"I don't think he's guilty." Marshal Conner snatched up his hat hanging on the coat rack by the door. "I plan to prove he's innocent."

"Where are you going? You haven't even had breakfast!" Sheriff Len's voice carried out the door as Marshal Conner slammed it shut.

From inside his cell, Jess listened as the Sheriff slammed the front door of the office closed. He knew Marshal Conner was just trying to help him, but the honest fact was Jess couldn't prove anything. He wanted to get up and walk around the cell, but the Doctors prodding from yesterday still had his shoulder throbbing. The solid oak door scraped open and the Sheriff held a tray of food in one hand and his keys in the other.

"Alright, get back against the wall." Jess painfully got up off the bed and stumbled to the back wall holding his shoulder.

Satisfied Jess was far enough away from the cell door, Sheriff Len unlocked the cell and sat the food tray on the corner of the bed. Quickly, he slammed the door closed again and locking it before Jess shuffled forward. Gritting his teeth Jess sat down on the bed and yanked the cloth off the food.

Enticing smells of bacon, eggs, sausage and fresh bread normally would've made his mouth water. Yet today, he wasn't as hungry as he usually was. Jess picked up the fork on the tray started to shovel the food in. He never even noticed how strange the eggs tasted before they were completely gone.

**Chapter 7**

Sweat stung his eyes as Jess paced the perimeter of his cell. He guessed Marshal Conner had been gone for over half an hour. Perhaps he was just going crazy being cooped up but he was feeling worse and worse by the second.

Heavily, Jess sat down on the bed. He toed the empty plate on the floor and cursed his weakening muscles. It was just his luck. Unable to hold himself up any longer, he fell back onto the blankets. As he fell back the tip of his boot hooked under the plate making a large clatter. Good, that way the Sheriff will come in here and see me.

"What's going on in there?" Sheriff Len unlocked the oak door and pushed it open.

Jess looked up at him through the bars pleading with his eyes for help. He coughed and reached a hand towards a stunned Sheriff.

"Help." Jess muttered before darkness claimed him.

* * *

"I need to send a telegram to Laramie." Marshal Conner fought the urge to pull the teller through the window if he didn't put a little more effort into his job.

"Again?" The teller looked down on Marshal Conner angrily. "This is the second telegram you've sent. I'm not here just to send your messages whenever you want!"

His hands curled into fistsfists at his side. Marshal Conner wrapped his hands around the collar of the tellers vest and pulled out the small teller window.

"Now look here you arrogant sidewinder! I don't care a lick about what you want! Now, you're going to send the telegram and your going to send it fast. By golly you'd better change your attitude right quick before I decide to give you a lickin' that won't heal for months!" Marshal Conner roughly released the teller and made no effort to help as the teller hit the dirt at the Marshals feet.

"Send-"

"Marshal Conner come quick!" A small stable boy ran to the Marshals side and tugged him away from the pathetic teller. "Sheriff Len sent me to bring you to the jail as fast as I could. He needs your help! You've got to come now!"

Unsure of what was going on Marshal Conner allowed himself to be pushed and tugged in the direction of the jail. Did Harper try to get away?

Bursting through the Sheriff's door, Mashal Conner called out Sheriff Len's name and rested his hand on the gun at his waist. Scanning the front room, tables and chairs were in the same places as he'd left them. Was there a fight?

"Dev! Get back here quick!" Len's voice echoed from the cells, shadowed with fear and desperation. Marshal Conner lengthened his stride to take him into the back room ready for anything.

Expecting to find Jess trying to get away, he pulled out his gun and rounded the open doorway. He shoved his gun back in the holster when he took in the scene.

The cell door was wide open and Len knelt on the floor. In the Sheriff's arms, Jess was thrashing back and forth like a fish out of water. What now?

"What happened?" Marshal Conner entered the cell and worked to pin down Jess' legs. "When did this happen?"

"I don't know. I sent for his dinner and gave it to him. Then the next thing I knew I heard a noise. I came in here and he was on the bunk acting real sick. Then, he begged for help and passed out. Now he's seizing." Len ducked a wild swing from Jess and then worked to pin his arm at his side. "Danny! Danny get in here!"

The little stable boy that dragged Marshal Conner back, ran in. The little boys eyes grew large as he look in a thrashing Jess.

"Danny go get the Doc and be quick about it! His life depends on it!" Danny nodded and disappeared scampering off to get the Doctor.

Marshal Conner pressed down on Jess' legs with all of his weight and he begged Jess to stop thrashing. He grunted as Jess kneed him in the gut and forced him to change his position to compensate. To the Marshals relief, Jess' unnatural movements started to slow. Marshal Conner loosened his iron grasp and winced as he felt the loosening then tightening muscles shutter through Jess.

"Len!" The Doctor rushed to Jess' side and motioned for Devin to back away.

Devin rocked back on his heels and watched Doctor Cummings push Len away from Jess so he had more room to work. Len walked towards Devin at the back of the cell and watched Doctor Cummings pull instruments out of his bag.

"How long has he been like this Len?" Marshal Conner didn't like the uncertainty in his voice.

"A couple minutes at least. I don't know the exact time." Sheriff Len stuttered forcing the words out.

"Then you better find it!" Doctor Cumming's voice cracked with sterness. "Remember! I have to know how to treat him!"

"Ten to twelve minutes is the closest I can figure." Len twisted his hands together nervously.

"'Bout time... You two help me get him up off the floor." Marshal Conner took Jess by the shoulders and Len took his legs and they hoisted him onto the bunk.

The Marshals heart lurched when Jess began to cough and choke. Immediately he pulled Jess shoulders up and slid onto the bed behind him. With Jess resting against him, he could feel the racking coughs that shook Jess' frame.

"Len. Go get me a tin of water." Doctor Cummings ordered as he held a cloth against Jess' mouth catching a white foam as it was coughed up. "Be sure and bring an empty bucket as well!"

As Len skittered out of the room to gather the request items, Marshal Conner tightly held Jess' shoulders.

"Doc, does he have a chance?" The white foam kept spilling out of Jess' mouth and the Doctor reached for another length of cloth. How much foam can one man spit up?

"I can probably save him if the Sheriff hurries up!" Doctor Cummings yelled aloud sending his warning to the Sheriff in the other room. "It's always a matter of time with poison."

"Poison!?Why would anyone poison my prisoner in jail?"

"That's your job to find out Marshal, not mine. What's taking that man so long?" At last, Sheriff Len ran into the room with a tin of water and a bucket. Doctor Cummings grabbed the tin of water from Sheriff Len and directed him to hold the cloth to Jess' mouth. The Doctor added a crushed powder to the water and nudged Len aside.

"Marshal hold his shoulders, Len pin down his legs and keep that bucket close. I'm going to force feed him this so he'll throw up as much of that poison as he can."

Doctor Cummings sat on the edge of the bed and pinched Jess' nose closed. With an iron grasp, he poured the vile liquid into his mouth. When the liquid hit Jess' throat, Marshal Conner was forced to double his grip on Jess' shoulders as the cowboy fought to not swallow the bitter liquid.

"Hold him tight! He has to drink it all!" The Doctor continued to pour until all of the medicine was gone. "Get the bucket over here."

Len passed the bucket forward just as Jess started to retch. Minute after minute, Jess emptied the contents of his stomach until there was nothing left to throw up.

"What now Doc?" Devin asked as he set Jess back onto the mattress and stood. "Is that all you can do?"

"For now that medicine stopped anymore poison from running through his system. It's a far cry from a cure but it'll give me time to study and find a cure in the next" Doctor pulled out a pocket watch, "twenty minutes."

"What do we do until you find a cure?" Marshal Conner followed Doctor Cummings out of the cell.

"Keep him comfortable and in bed. Unfortunately, there's nothing else to do but wait and hope I can find a cure."

**Chapter 8**

Marshal Conner sat staring holes into the desk in front of him. He'd never lost a prisoner right under his nose and he didn't like the feeling of losing one now. He just didn't understand how or why someone would intentionally poison Jess.

"Well are you just going to sit there and feel sorry for yourself?" Len leaned comfortably against the door way separating them from Jess. "The least you could do is find out where the poison came from."

"I can't do that until Doctor Cummings comes back here knowing what poison was used to try and kill Jess. If he finds an antidote at all." Marshal Conner took a deep breath and rolled the pencil around in his hand he'd 'stolen' from Len. "How is he?"

Len glanced over his shoulder. "He's restless but seems to be dozing off right now. In all honesty he looks like death warmed over. Sure is a terrible way to go."

Not wanting to think anymore about what could happen, Marshal Conner stood. He snatched his hat off the desk and faced Len.

"I'm going out to find how that poison got into Jess food. You sent for the plate at the Saloon right?" Len nodded vaguely and watched him pull the door open. "I should be back before the Doctor but if I'm not, be sure to send for me."

* * *

The coil of wires in his hand was grimy and leaving traces of oil on his hands but he didn't mind. Tipping his head up, he watched a swallow ride the wind so easy the breathless. Beads of sweat trailed down his face stinging his eyes requiring him to wipe his face with his shirt sleeve.

If Slim could see me now. Dang, I wished I won that coin toss last night. I'm out here sweating to death for the entire day and Slim's back at the ranch house basking in the shade.

He reached for the wire cutters precariously balanced on the top of the fence post. Closing his hand around them he uncoiled another length of wire and snipped it in half.

Then, returning the cutters to their place on the post and dropped the roll of wire into the long grass at the base of the fence post and set to work securing the cross post to the base.

* * *

"I don't know what you're talking about Marshal." Hank the Saloon keeper smugly rested against the bar and continued to use his knife to work free the dirt caked under his nails. Watching Hank Marshal Conner made a mental note never to buy a drink in this Saloon even if he was dying of thirst. "I run a first class joint around here and none of my girls would have a reason to poison this...?"

"Harper. Jess Harper." Marshal Conner started to lean against the bar and then decided against it, watching Hank free layers and layers of dirt right onto it. "What about you?"

Hank stopped moved his knife under his fingernails. "Me?" He threw his head back and laughed. "Hey Ronny! This U.S. Marshal thinks I poisoned this...? What'd you say his name was again Marshal?"

"Jess Harper." He ground out at the chorus of laughter behind him. "Do you have an albias or not?"

Hank went back to freeing more gunk under his nails. "Marshal I've been playing poker straight since noon yesterday clear till you pulled me away." He nodded behind the Marshal to the full poker table spilling with coworkers, drifters and Saloon girls. "There's twenty people in this Saloon that can back my albias. Now if you don't mind, the House is looking money."

"Wait!" Marshal Conner caught the arm of the Saloon keeper as he brushed past him. "Who cooks and serves the food?"

"Molly. Now get off me!" He released Hank and sauntered over to the kitchens bat wing doors.

"Food ain't gonna be ready for another hour Cowboy, so keep out of my kitchen!" Marshal Conner ducked in time to save his head from being taken off by a flying wooden bowl.

"Are you Molly?" Marshal Conner hurried to ask the woman with her back to him.

"Now you listen, and you listen real good Cowboy. I ain't no workin' girl here at this Saloon. If you're looking for a little 'company' you turn yourself right around and find yourself one of those tramps outside. Understand? Now get out!"

"Ma'am you don't understand I'm-" Marshal Conner was cut off as a cast iron skillet was hurled at him. "My name's-"

"I don't care what your name is Cowboy! This is the last time I'll ask you before I get you thrown out on your head. Get out!"

"I'm a U.S. Marshal!" He yelled out before she saw fit in her mind to start throwing the knives.

The woman turned around to face him. With dark hair brown hair and a ruby red dress she was beautiful. Elegant curls framed her face and her blue eyes shone brightly.

"A Marshal you said?" Her voice was considerably softer than it had been when she was attempting to knock his head off. He nodded. "Well, why didn't you say so before?"

"Molly! I've been waiting for my dinner for an hour!" Hank's nasty voice bellowed through the saloon. "You want to keep your job or not?"

"Coming right up you sidewinder! You're lucky I haven't decided to cook it on the floor!" Molly yelled back from the kitchen. Reaching behind her, she pulled a full plate off the counter and pushed past Marshal Conner to deliver the food to her boss. "I'll speak to you later."

"Marshal Conner! Do you know where I can find Marshal Conner?" He peeked his head towards the main doors and saw the slim figure of the same boy who had retrieved him earlier today.

"I'm here son. Is something wrong?" Marshal Conner walked forward and rested his hand on the boy's shoulder.

"Sheriff Len sent me to get you 'cause Doc Cummings is at the jail right now."

"Tell the Sheriff I'm on my way."  _ It was time to face the music. _

  
  


**Chapter 9**

_ A flash of movement caught his eye. His back ached and the hair on his arms stood up straight. He was being watched, he was sure of it. Flicking his eyes forward, he looked at the gun hanging off the rail more than ten feet in front of him. He kicked himself for leaving it so far out of reach. Never before had he been so reckless about how far he was from his gun. Now, his laziness was going to get him hurt or even worse; killed. _

_ Jess stabbed the post digger deeper into the ground and leaned his body further forward than necessary in an attempt to see who was hiding behind him. He had no luck as the trees behind him were densely ingrown and kept the intruders hidden. A twig snapping in the opposite direction confirmed there was more than one waiting to come out at him. He set the posthole digger down on the grass and walked to his canteen and took a swig. The canteen was eight feet away from where his gun was hanging and he looked at it mournfully. Acting like he needed a drink got him closer to this weapon but it didn't get him close enough to guarantee he had time to snatch the gun out of the holster before his 'guests' shot him down in cold blood. _

_ He'd have to find another way to get out of this alive. _

* * *

The Doctor had been in with Jess for over an hour.  _ How long does it take to give a man an antidote? The Doc should have been back by now. _ "Will you sit down?" Len snapped at him as he paced the length of the room. "You're givin' me anxioty." Marshal Conner turned to face him as he pronounced anxiety wrong with an 'o'.

"You don't even know what anxiety means." He snapped back with fierceness making Len flinch slightly at his harsh words. "And it's not 'anxioty' it's anxiety!"

"What's the difference? You still knew what I meant." Len abruptly stood and clomped over the stand in front of Marshal Conner angrily. "All you do is berate me because I always do something wrong!" Len stabbed a finger into his chest.

"I have not!" Marshal Conner gave into the urge to yell.

"You have too! It's 'Len to this' and 'Len do that'! If something isn't done to your satisfaction it can't be done at all! It's never enough!"

"No I haven't!" He took a step forward hoping to force Len to step back. "Fine, give me one example! One!"  _ That should keep Len busy just coming up with one. _

Len paused. "Let me think." Hope trilled though his heart as he saw Len had to actually think about his argument. Unfortunately, his bubble was popped with gusto. "Mexico! Six years ago on Christmas Eve!"

"Mexico? Last I recalled you begged me to let you come along!" Marshal Conner glared down at his friend. "I treated you with nothing but respect in Mexico!"

"That you did." Marshal Conner nodded eagerly at having Len admit he was wrong. Or so he thought Len was wrong.

"See you agree! Nothing happened in Mexico!"

"All up until we stopped at the little Cantina close to the Texas border."

Marshal Conner realized he'd jumped onto his own sinking ship and tried to back peddle.  _ I never was the patient one. _ As he recalled; to his pride's lament, Len was right. He'd pushed Len too hard on the trail and things had come to a head when they'd gone out to 'celebrate'. Len was eager to straddle the silence that come what 'the Cantina' was brought up.

"Oh ya. Remember that one Dev?" Now it was Marshal Conners turn to back away from the advancing Len. "We'd chased that fugitive for months and we'd finally, finally caught him in that little village near the Rio Grande. But of course he was on the wrong side of the river for you." Suddenly, Marshal Conner wished Len would stop needling his pride. "And guess who was the bait."

"Oh alright. I may have been a  little critical." He gracefully ate his portion of crow in an attempt to get Len to stop. If only Len was ready to forgive and forget that easily.

"I haven't even gotten to the Cantina yet." Marshal Conner didn't like the evil look that crossed Len's face as he plotted out what he was going to say next. "To make things worse, what did you say to me after you waltzed off with the young senorita I clearly told you I liked?"

Marshal Conner opened his mouth to comment only to be interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat. Turning, he saw Doctor Cummings push his stethoscope back into his lack doctors bag and snapped it shut.

"Doc. Is he going to be alright? Did the antidote work?" Doctor Cummings held his hands up in an attempt to stop him from asking more questions. Shambling over to Len's desk, Doctor Cummings sat his bag down and sank into one of the various chairs near the desk.

"Luckily, I was able to find the poison that was used in an attempt to kill Mr. Harper. It was a poisonous substance called atropine." Marshal Conner walked closer to the Doctor as if he could force the good Doctor to spill out what was wrong with Jess out fast just by walking closer. "Atropine causes tremors, fever, nausea and act in unnatural ways."

"Is there an antidote Doc?" Sheriff Len blurted out his question before Devin had a chance to ask anything.

"Luckily, I found a poison textbook that covers atropine poisoning. I just administered the antidote physostigmine. It took me longer to come and deliver the news because I wanted to be sure Mr. Harper was reacting to the medicine."

"So you mean to tell me he's going to be alright?" Marshal Conner spoke up, eager to find out more about Jess' condition so he knew where to start looking. He needed to know where to start looking for who poisoned his prisoner and why.

"He should make a full recovery but it'll be some time before he's up on his feet again. I hope you weren't planning on moving him to Laramie anytime soon because it could be over a week before he's able to travel." Doctor Cumings stood, grabbed his Doctor's bag and made for the door. "He should begin to feel better but the want to sleep should be expected. If something changes, be sure to send for me at my office. Now, if you'll excuse me I have a young mother I need to check up on." Bidding the Doctor farewell, Len and Marshal Conner watched him disappear out the door, leaving them alone.

* * *

_ A punch slammed into his stomach making him hunk over only to be pulled upright to receive another cruel blow. This had to be the worst day of his life. Sometimes he wondered if someone wanted him to suffer everyday of his life for spite. _

_ "Now, do I have your attention Harper?" He breathed in as deeply as possible with his aching gut, and looked up at the pair of cruel eyes in front of him. If this man's goons weren't holding him in place he'd show this man a thing or two. _

_ "Never." If he managed to get a gun… _

_ "That's too bad Jess. It really is. You know, things could have gone a lot easier if you'd just cooperated to begin with. But I guess you'll just have to live with the consequences." The man turned and gestured to the group of men behind him. "Will! Take Harper's gun, bandanna, and pay his partner Slim Sherman a visit. Make it real obvious Jess here killed his partner." _

_ "What're ya gonna do with him Boss?" Jess tried to pry his hands loose of the iron grips that held him but couldn't get free. He couldn't let them kill Slim! _

_ "Nothing. After Will here makes it obvious Jess is rotten to the core, we'll let him go. Then we'll get ourselves a nice front row seat of the hanging when the law catches up with him." _

**Chapter 10**

Molly was proving to be a very stubborn woman.

Marshal Conner followed her with his eyes as she moved back and forth in the kitchen stirring pots, chopping vegetables, and putting food on plates to be taken to customers in the main room. Molly was a middle aged woman that moved with a grace found only within a person who'd lived a hard life. The lawman inside him calculated how likely it was that Molly could be involved in Jess getting poisoned.

"You done starin' at me like a school boy or are you going to ask me what's on your mind?" She turned to face him with a tall wooden spoon clutched in her hand.

"Yes ma'am. I was just wondering...are you the only one who cooks in this kitchen?" He saw the edges of Molly's eyes wrinkle as her hand tightened to a white knuckle grip on her deadly wooden instrument. "Not that there's anything wrong with the food of course!" He hastily added only to regret it.

"What does that mean!" It was too late to take back his words. All he could do is sit and watch as Molly started her rampage. "Are you hinting that my cooking isn't very good and that someone else should be running my kitchen!? I'll have you know, more than half of the single men in this town and more than a fair share of drifters passing through, stop by and eat my cooking rather than eating that slop over at the Cafe! And another thing, just because you wear a tin star on your vest doesn't mean I won't crack this spoon over your head for tracking dirt across my clean kitchen floor! You ain't no better than any other low down saddle tramp who comes here looking for trouble and you'll get the same thing they would!"

"Hey wait a minute! I have not tracked dirt across you floor and I sure as shootin' never said anything about your cooking!" He fired back at Molly determined to get some sense into this hot tempered woman. "And just for the tally books, I'm here because I need to know how a man in my custody was poisoned by the food that came from your kitchen and it wasn't food poisoning neither! Somebody wants that boy dead and I don't have time to tear this town apart just to find what I'm looking for when you can help me just by answering a few simple questions!"

Molly set the spoon down and walked over to the cutting board. For several minutes the only sound of vegetables being sliced with practiced speed broke the silence. When more than half of the vegetables were cut and slid into the pan with the meat for lunch, Molly looked up at him calmly.

"I understand Marshal Conner. The truth is there isn't much to tell, Sheriff Len sent over for some breakfast for his prisoner. I'm the only person in town that uses this kitchen and the only one who handled Mr. Harper's food. I swear I didn't do anything to it to make that man sick and that's the truth." Molly rubbed her forehead with the back of her hand and slammed the oven door closed.

"Did you happen to leave the food on the counter and walk out of the room for a few minutes? Could someone have gotten close enough to the dish to lace it with poison while your back was turned even for a second?" Marshal Conner stared down the woman standing in front of him sternly.

"No. I never leave the kitchen or food for even a few seconds. I don't have any need to leave because the kitchen is always kept fully stocked. I cook the food, dish it, and then call Buddy to take the food over to the jail. Every dish to the jail comes directly from me to Buddy. No one else touches it or gets near it." He rubbed his hands across his chin as he thought.

Molly had no reason to poison Jess' food and if she gave the food directly to the stable boy then Jess' food couldn't have been poisoned in the Saloon. That meant the food had to have been poisoned somewhere between the Saloon and the Jail.

* * *

_ Jess urged Traveler to run harder. Slim would be alive when I arrived back at the house he had to be. He almost sighed in relief as he crested the hill behind the barn and looked down into the yard below. He could see Slim leading a string of replacement horses for the stage out of the corral. Slim was alive and safe! _

_ Jess nudged Traveler to stop by the back side of the barn and dismounted. Slim was alive for now but he had to be sure Slim stayed that way. He palmed for his gun only to curse. Of all the times when he needed a gun! Peering around the edge of the barn he watched Slim walk towards the house. He had to stop Slim from going inside, but if he showed himself, Will just might shoot Slim before he could stop him. _

_ He inhaled quickly as he saw Slim step up onto the porch. There was no doubt Will was waiting to kill Slim. He was too far away now to help Slim but...he could get Will to shoot at him first. Jess pushed through the rails in the corrals and side stepped the horses. _

_ "Slim! Slim, watch out!" Dread stalled his movements as he heard a gunshot from inside the house.  _

_ Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a shadow sneak through a back window and run towards the bushes lining the edge of the yard. He pushed away the urge to run down Will and beat him senseless before he got away. Instead, Jess raced across the yard and burst through the front door. _

**Chapter 11**

Mort Cory watch Mike playfully tussle with his new puppy. The youngster playfully swatted the young, clumsy dog and squealed in delight when a wet tongue wiped his face, making him shift backwards in an attempt to avoid the eager tongue. Mort stretched his legs out further and added a chuckle of his own as he watched the pup and Mike interact.

“Mike sure does love that dog.” Slim seated beside him mused. “After Jess left, Mike sure took it hard. I know that dog didn’t do much to fill the hole, but it at least gave Mike a chance to forget.”

Mort turned his head to his side and watched Slim out of the corner of his eye. It may be hard on Mike knowing Jess was who-knows-where running from the law, but he knew it was even harder for Slim. Jess and Slim seemed to have a brotherly connection that tied them with a tighter bond than blood brothers. Now that Jess was on the wrong side of the law again…

Mort tubbed a hand over his chin, He’d came out to tell Slim and Daisy that Jess had been caught by Marshal Conner several times over the last week, but each day he’d rode back into Laramie with the telegram burning a hole in his pocket.  _ Why was it so hard to tell them they had a face the man who shot Slim? _

“Slim… about-” Mort started to tell Slim the real reason why he was here only to be cut off.

“I know what you must be thinking about us, but we’re fine. Sure it was a shock after Jess ran off, but we’ll make do. I still have some money left over from selling part of the herd where I can hire another hand to replace Jess. My shoulder’s healed enough now I can handle the teams when the stage coach comes through here so I can draw a wage again.” The words he’d been trying to get out got stuck in his throat again as he listened to Slim talk about getting along without Jess. “Besides Mike’s shown he’s ready to step up and help out a little more around here now. I know I may sound a little cold, but life still goes on.”

Across the yard, Mike stopped playing with his pup when he was the dust cloud of the stage roll down the road. The young boy brushed the dirt off his pants and untied the waiting horses from the corral fence by the trough.

“Speak of the devil, there’s the stage.” Slim pushed himself off the seat of his chair and joined Mike.

Mort stood, leaning against the porch railing as he watched Mike help Slim exchange the horses. He knew from experience it was better if he let Mike and Slim change the horses. Behind him, he heard the front door open and close as Daisy walked out to join him on the porch.

“Mike sure had grown up a bunch lately.” Daisy’s voice commented as her fingers drew idle loops on the porch railing. “He’s tried so hard to help out I’m afraid he’s worn himself plumb out. I was against Slim getting that dog for Mike but now I’m glad he convinced me. He hasn’t laughed like he did today since Jess left.”

“I’m sorry Daisy for this mess.”  _ He was sorry for a lot more than he could ever tell her right now…  _ “I only wish things had happened differently.”

Daisy turned to face him with a hand on her hip. “Why would you be sorry Sheriff? You weren’t the one who shot Slim and then ran out on us. I’ll admit when Slim was shot I was certain Jess was innocent and he’d just ran off to chase down the scoundrel who did, but now…” Daisy scoffed under her breath. “Now I’d like to get a hold of that young man and give him an ear full.”

Mort watched in silence as Mike led the exhausted horses into the corral and started to brush them down. Daisy was right, Mike sure had been forced to grow up fast.

“Sheriff… is there any chance Jess is innocent?” He looked into Daisy’s tear filled eyes.

“I don’t know anymore Mrs. Cooper. If he was innocent, I don’t understand why he would leave Slim and run. All the evidence points towards Jess being responsible for shooting Slim.”  _ How he hated the way her shoulders sagged at his words. _

“Sheriff, if they found him they’d bring him back to Laramie wouldn’t they?”

“Yes, he’d be brought back to Laramie to face trial.” Absentmindedly, he fingered the telegram in his vest pocket.

The stage pulled out of the yard and headed towards Laramie with a clatter of wheels. Mort watched as Slim joined Mike in the corral by the barn, stripping the harness’ off the horses.

“Mrs. Cooper I have something to show you.” Mort pulled the telegram out of his pocket and offered it to her. “I was going to show this to you before, but Slim isn’t ready yet.”

Daisy’s hands shook as she took the paper out of his hand. Flipping the flap open, she pulled the telegram out of the envelope. Quickly, her eyes scanned the words on the paper. When she finished, she brought her hand to her mouth and handed the papers back. Daisy’s shoulders shook with silent sobs before she got herself in control.

“Thank you for showing me that Sheriff.” Daisy wiped her eyes and squared her shoulders. “When are you going to tell Slim?”

Mort weighed the telegram in his hand and he glanced again towards Mike and Slim. Then he passed the telegram back to Daisy.

“I’d like to tell him myself but I think you should. H’d take it better coming from you that Jess is on his way back to Laramie.” He felt rotten passing the buck to Daisy, but he knew he was right.

Daisy slipped the telegram into the pocket of her apron and nodded several times. Her bright blue eyes watched as Mike and Slim walked back towards the house.

“I think it might be best if I go back inside before Slim starts asking questions. I’ll tell him when the time is right.” Daisy slipped back into the house leaving Mort alone as Mike the Slim closed the distance to the porch.

* * *

Jess’ eyes flicked open slowly as awareness slowly came to him. Groaning, he pushed his hands out to the side, feeling what he was lying on. It took him several minutes to realize he was on a cot surrounded by iron bars. Panic shot through him until he remembered the last events. Experimentally, he pushed himself into a sitting position with his back against the headboard of the cot and wiped his sleeved arm across his forehead. His head was slick with sweat. Strange…

“The Doc said you’d be coming around soon.” Sheriff Len stood outside the closed cell door.

“What? What happened?” Jess shook his head trying to shake the cotton feeling away. What was wrong with him? “Where’s Marshal Conners?”

Sheriff Len pushed on the cell door and to Jess’ surprise it swung open easily; unlocked. Why would the door be unlocked? Wasn’t it supposed to be locked to keep him in? Why would the Doctor say he’d ‘be coming around soon’? Unnoticed by Jess, the Sheriff was now standing by him holding out a cup partially filled with water. Dumbfounded, he took the cup from the Sheriff and stared at it confused.

“Drink up and I’ll try to explain.” Sheriff Len pointed to the cup in his hand again to emphasize his point that he wouldn’t talk until Jess downed the contents.

Jess pressed the cup to his lips and sipped the mouthful of water all the while he watched Sheriff Len over the rim. There was something about that man that made the hair on the back of his head stick up straight whenever he was around. He didn’t trust him; plain and simple. When the small amount of water was gone he held the cup out to the Sheriff to take.

“You gave us quite a scare. It seems you and one of your ‘friends’ had a falling out bad enough to make them poison you. Luckily, Doctor Cummings was able to identify the poison and gave you the antidote.” Sheriff Len took the cup from Jess and then set it on the floor by the cot Jess was sitting on. “The Marshal’s out trying to find how you were poisoned and who’s responsible. He should be back any minute. I imagine he’ll be pretty happy to know you’re awake and talking.”

The cup was retrieved and the Sheriff walked through the open cell door. Slamming the door closed, Sheriff Len pulled a ring of keys out of his pocket; locking the door and leaving Jess alone.

**Chapter 12**

**_For the sake of the flashback in this chapter I have estimated Jess to be about 23 years old making him about 17 for the flashback close to the age where he was almost lynched._ **

**_Happy reading!_ **

The stable boy in front of him was steadily caving in on himself. Danny had worked for that stable for over six years; at least that's what he told him. In his mind Marshal Conner kept running the evidence over and over in his head. His gut told him Molly wasn't the person who poisoned Jess. In all honesty with all the orders for food coming in and out all day, she wouldn't have the time. Added, if she poisoned a plate it'd be too easy to mix up the orders and poison more than one person making it easy to point to her.

So, that means the plate of food hadn't been poisoned until it was set in the hands of the stable boy who had been paid to bring the food over to the jail for Sheriff Len. Len wouldn't have poisoned Jess because again it'd be too easy of a trail straight to him. Len may run a two-bit town when it came to enforcing the law, but he wasn't stupid or a killer. If you were a killer then why put on a badge? Lastly, Len couldn't have had the time to poison Jess because he knew at any minute he could have walked through the door. Again, it'd been to easy to pin Len to the crime.

So, that left Danny to clear up this mess.

"Marshal, I really need to go back to work. Ya see it's just my Ma and me an' my Pa done run off so Ma had to take in the laundry. We really need this job so we can eat." Danny rose up off the step in front of the General Store.

Sternly, Marshal Conners pointed back down to the step making Buddy angrily plop back down. "I told you before young man. I'll let you go as soon as you answer a few questions for me. What happened after you took the food from Mrs. Molly over at the Saloon?"

Buddy propped his chin up on his hands and glanced up at him. "I did the same as I always do. I took the covered plate she gave me and went directly over to the Jail like Sheriff Len paid me extra for. Sheriff Len took the plate from me, paid me my nickel and then took the plate into that bad man he had locked up."

The Marshal squatted down so he was eye level with Danny. "So, you never stopped or set the plate down; anywhere, even just for the smallest second?"

"No sir. Can I go now?" Danny pleaded with him.

"Not yet son." Danny wilted. "And when you gave the food to Sheriff Len did he lift the napkin and check the food?"

"No sir. He carried the plate right into the cell rooms and then came right back out as I left." Danny dropped his hands and stared up at him. "You don't think the Sheriff did it do you?"

"No, not after what you just told me."

"But then why would you ask about Sheriff Len when he's the Sheriff?" Danny asked bewildered.

"I just had to make sure Sheriff Len didn't do anything right off so I can trust him. Now, don't you have somewhere to be?" He watched as the young boy sprang from his step and raced towards the stable. He'd never seen anyone so happy to go to work before.

Marshal Conner turned and stared towards the front door of the Saloon. Danny's comment confirmed the food was poisoned before it reached the Jail and Len had nothing to do with it. That meant it was time to let Len in on his problem. Scratching his head, he watched Danny disappear inside the Livery Stable. There was a chance Danny knew a little more, but now wasn't the time to go badgering the kid.

* * *

_ Five years earlier… _

_ The smoke from the campfire choked him as the wind shifted it right into his face. Instinctively, he reached for the gun at his hip only to find he wore no gun at all. _

_ "I told you to gather more firewood!" He flinched into a ball as blows landed on him. Closing his eyes he waited for the beating to stop. Sooner or later he'd be old enough to fight back, but he was to weak and young to do so now. "You're worthless! Should have let you die where I found you!" _

_ Jess Harper screwed his eyes shut even tighter as blow after blow hit him and he was defenseless to stop it. He'd lived through this sort of abuse before he was strong enough to do it again. One day he'd make this man pay for what he was doing to him. He'd make sure he got his own medicine even if it killed him. _

_ "Johnny what are you doing!?" Jess let out a breath of relief as Austin ripped Johnny away from him, ceasing his beating. _

_ "Get off me Austin, he deserved it!" With his eyes still closed, he listened closely as someone hit the dirt near his feet. _

_ "You're drunk!" Jess heard a punch land and then silence. _

_ A hand pressed down on his shoulder and he waited for the unseen hands to hurt him, but they didn't. Finally, Jess opened his eyes to see Austin looking down at him sorrowfully. _

_ "I'm sorry Jess, I didn't know he'd cut back." Jess shifted his vibrant eyes over to where Johnny laid unconscious at his feet. "If I knew he headed back to camp I would have stopped him before he got here. Are you hurt bad?" _

_ "I'm fine." He said simply even though he wasn't. Not wanting to be in trouble for anything more, Jess sat up intending to gather some firewood even though they didn't need it. _

_ Austin was the kindest of the Carter Gang and always went out of his way to be kind to Jess, even though he had a nasty reputation of murdering men in cold blood. Austin was the youngest in the Carter family who'd taken him in. Jess reached a hand up and rubbed the slightly tender rope burn around his neck. He hated the permanent ring etched into his skin, but he had to admit it was the only reason he was alive now. After a stranger had saved him from being lynched, Johnny Carter; Austin's only and oldest brother, had taken him in when he'd been found wandering in the desert. While Johnny had saved his life it was Austin who had nursed him back to health. _

_ "I'd better get some firewood and hope Johnny comes to before Max gets back." Jess hobbled off into the bushes searching for wood. _

_ Jess wasn't blind to the fact Austin, Johnny and their father Max were notorious outlaws wanted for the murder of several good lawmen. While Austin was kind to him and seemed to have a heart, Max was as bad as if not worse than his favorite son Johnny. Johnny's beatings where bad enough, but Max's were ten times worse. Once he'd seen Max beat one of his gang members until he was dead for accidentally letting go of a horse loaded with gold. It didn't matter the horse had been spooked by a rattler and no one in their right mind would have been able to hold that horse. Max sent Austin and him to bury the gang member while they went to round up the lost horse. _

_ When Max started something he never stopped until you were six feet under. That was what made him such a good outlaw. Max had only allowed him to stay alive once he saw the rope burn around his neck assuming Jess was an outlaw like them. _

_ When Jess returned with his third arm load of wood, he heard the clatter of hooves riding into the box canyon they were camped in. His heart sank when he looked at the still unconscious Johnny lying on the ground next to the fire ring. Jess dropped the wood on the ground and squared his shoulders. He knew he had a beating coming when Max found his oldest son unconscious because of him. _

_ Shifting on his feet, Jess watched Max walk closer giving his unconscious son a strange look. The confusion turned to fury when he met Jess' withering gaze. Max knelt down beside Johnny and shook his shoulder trying to rouse him. Jess' breath caught in his throat when Johnny didn't wake up after several minutes. Then, Max pressed his fingers against Johnny's throat searching for a heartbeat. Max bowed his head and then glared at Jess. _

_ "What did you do to my boy?" Jess opened his mouth to answer, but closed it. Max really didn't want an answer, he wanted a reason to kill him. He flinched as Max's shadow passed over him. "Why did you kill my son?!" _

_ But...Johnny wasn't dead he couldn't be... Where was Austin? _

_ "I didn't..." Too late. Max backhanded him, painfully he crashed over his newly collected firewood. "Please I-" _

_ Max hauled him up by his collar and added a harsh punch to his stomach before slamming another into his jaw. Mercilessly, his beating continued until he started to feel his awareness begin to fade. It’d feel so nice to drift away from a place where pain existed… _

“Stop! What are you doing?” Austin? “Pa stop please, you’re killing him!”

_ The blows kept descending chasing away a world of light leaving him in the dark. _

* * *

Jess rubbed his head as the memory left him. Why was his scrambled mind taking him back to something that happened years ago? He needed to remember what had happened in the last five months, so he knew how to greet Slim, Mort, Daisy and Mike when Marshal Conners decided he was healthy enough to be taken the rest of the way to Laramie.

No matter how hard he tried he couldn’t see the face of the man who punched him at the fence the day Slim was shot. But something inside him told him he knew that man. He rolled over on his side and massaged the back of his neck trying to work away his headache. Why had he not stayed after Slim had been shot? It wasn’t like he’d walked on the wrong end of law after he’d went to work at the Sherman Ranch. Besides, if he was guilty for breaking the law he wasn’t one to hide from it. Then why run? What was so important that he had to leave without knowing if Slim was going to be alright?

“Headache?” A man with a black doctors bag asked him. Jess’ head hurt too bad for him to investigate why he hadn’t heard the Doctor and Marshal Conners walk in. The stranger nodded for the Marshal to unlock the cell door and came up beside Jess. “Alright young man, how are you feeling?”

Jess looked up at the man and debated what to say. As if the Doctor understood the thoughts running through his head he sharpened his gaze.

“And tell me the truth.”

“My head feels like someone’s taking a sledge hammer to it Doc.” Leaning forward the Doctor examined his skull.

“How long ago did you get this bump on the back of your head?” The Doctor gently probed the knot making Jess groan in pain.

“Three to five days I guess.” From where Marshal Conner rested against the iron bars he shifted uncomfortably.

“Three to Five days! Why didn’t I know about this sooner? Now tell me, after you took this hit have you felt dizzy, nauseous and had trouble remembering what happened before you hit your head?”

Jess nodded to all of the Doctors questions.

“What’s the last thing you remember?”

“Fixing fences at my partners ranch in Laramie over five months ago.” Jess didn’t like the look on the Doctors face. “Can you patch me up Doc?”

“Unfortunately, when it comes to head wounds like these there’s nothing I can do. It’s common after a hit like this to the skull to have some memory loss.” The Doctor stopped probing around on his head and allowed him to lay back comfortably. “Time is the best medicine for this kind of wound young man. Though I do wish I would have known about his wound sooner.” The Doctor pinned Marshal Conner with a glare thick enough to look through a brick wall.

“Will I get my memory back?”

“There’s a good chance you will but I might take a while. Your brain needs time to heal. But…”

“But what?” Jess’ heartbeat sped up.

“There are some cases where victims never get their memory back or it can take several years to get it back.” The Doctor stood up and shut his bag. “Don’t you worry, I’m sure you’ll be able to remember. While I’m here you haven’t felt sick like you did a few days ago?”

Jess shook his head. “No I’m just a little weak, that’s all. No poison.”

“Good. Now, I really must be going.” Listening to Doctor Cummings and Marshal Conner walk away after locking the door Jess sighed.

He didn’t have years to remember. He needed to know what happened during those five months to make sure he was innocent. What was he going to say when he went up in front of the judge in Laramie? ‘Sorry Judge please pardon me because I can’t remember what happened, but check back with me in a year or two and maybe then I’ll be able to remember.’ Let’s face it, he’d be locked away faster than he could say ‘pardon’.

He was doomed.

**Chapter 13**

Patiently Jess sat on the edge of the bed, waiting for his supper to be brought into him. Marshal Conners had announced to him last night that he was healthy enough to make the trip to Laramie. He’d admitted he hadn’t found out who poisoned Jess, but he said Sheriff Len would continue to investigate. Tired of doing nothing but lying around, Jess pushed to his feet and walked forward to grasp the iron bars that kept him trapped.

Grasping the bars was the only thing that kept him upright when a splitting pain spliced through his head. Groaning, Jess put one hand to his head while he used the other to keep him standing. White flashes of pain sparked behind his eyes chasing away the last dregs of consciousness as he slumped to the floor.

* * *

_ Five years earlier… _

_ Jess drifted back to reality finding that every nerve in his body was on fire. Flicking his eyes open, Jess was aware of someone sitting beside him. _

_ “Jess?” Austin’s voice pulled him the rest of the way out of oblivion. _

_ “Austin. What happened? Is Johnny really dead?” Austin sighed. _

_ “Yes, he is. It was an accident. When I hit him he must have hit his head on one of the stones lining the fire ring. I didn’t know my Father would take it out on you so soon.” Beside him, Austin hung his head. _

_ “Where is everybody?” Looking around he realized all of the gear and men were nowhere in sight. _

_ “They left after I pulled my Father off you. Pa didn’t stick around long after he buried Johnny. He wanted me to leave with them and leave you here, but I couldn’t. When I refused, he said he couldn’t hold with me standing up for the kid who killed his son. The only reason he didn’t kill me right then and there was he didn’t want to bury another son.” _

_ “I’m sorry Austin.” Jess felt rotten. Because of him, Austin had been thrown out to fend for himself. Austin chuckled darkly. _

_ “Don’t beat yourself up over it Jess. We both know I had this coming. Pa always favored Johnny over me we both know it. As far as I was concerned, I was the unwanted son the minute Ma died at birth.” Jess pushed himself into a sitting position and watched Austin. “I know enough to know I’ve walked outside the law far enough to never find any peace. Well, I suppose I’ll have to figure out what to do sooner or later.” _

_ Eventually Jess was well enough to ride trail again alone. _

_ “I’m sorry Austin, for all the trouble I have caused you.” Jess stroked Travelers mane sitting in the middle of the road facing the fork that would take them in different directions. _

_ “I’m sorry too Jess.” Austin fiddled with the end of his reins. “I do want you to know Jess it sure was good to ride with you for as long as I did.” _

_ “So did you decide?” _

_ “Decide what?” _

_ “What you’re going to do. Have you decided now you’re on your own?” Austin stared vacantly down the road. _

_ “Maybe I’ll change my name and find a place where I can settle down. Who knows? I might even put on a badge.” _

* * *

“Jess?” As the memory passed he blinked away the remainders of his headache. Recognition flared through him as he looked up at Sheriff Len.

“It’s been a long time Austin.” Austin opened the cell door and walked in. “I think I need your help, partner.”

* * *

“It beats me how you can get into so much trouble in a short time.” Austin had snuck in to talk to him while the Marshal was getting their horses.

“Trouble always seems to find me.” Jess sat on the bed and leaned against the iron bars. “So you finally managed to put in a badge. How’d that happen?”

“I drifted for a long time here and there. Eventually, I met Devin in Texas. It took some convincing but I managed to get hired on as his deputy. Then, once word got out I’d worked with him I made a name for myself in the right side of the law.”

“Does he know?” Austin shifted uncomfortably at Jess’ question.

“No. I wanted to tell him so many times, but then I knew...” Austin let out a sharp breath. “Call me a coward but I was scared. What should I do Jess? If I came clean I’d keep you from going to prison for something you didn’t do, but if I did...”

“You’d hang.” Jess finished for him. Laying his hand on Len’s shoulder, he spoke. “‘Len’ don’t turn yourself in. I won’t let you put your neck in a noose so you can stop me from collecting my punishment.”

“But Jess, you’re innocent; I’m not. I’ve killed men Jess, just because they got in the way. I was the one who got into that fight with Johnny. I’m responsible for Johnny’s death not you. You said Pa came after you and framed you for shooting Slim Sherman as revenge for Johnny’s death. I have to repay you for being chased by posse’s just to find and warn me that Pa’s out for me too. I owe you Jess, let me pay my debt.”

“No.” Jess released Austin’s shoulder. “There’s a possibility the judge and jury might take it easy on me. All I’d get was a few years in jail and then I’d be free again.”

“That’s if you’re lucky Jess!”

“I chose to pay that price when I went after you like I did and ran. You put your neck out for me five years ago, I owe you a larger debt than you owe me.” While his words were convincing, Jess couldn’t shake off the rock sinking in his stomach. “I’m willing to pay this price-” Jess panned his hand to indicate the iron bars around him. “-then watch you swing from a rope for me.”

Austin opened his mouth but stopped. He didn’t like the idea of Jess going to prison or worse, just to protect his secret.

“I don’t like this Jess. Not one bit.” Austin sighed. “I wish Pa would’ve left you alone and just come for me. I hate feeling so helpless!”

Jess smiled wryly. “You’re a hard man to find, I can second that. You have a good life here, a chance to make something of yourself and start over. This town needs you, Austin. I’d pay a hundred life-sentences for you if I had to.” Jess and Austin sat in silence. “Austin, could you do something for me?”

Jess waited until Austin nodded.

“If I...you know. Take the time to ride into Laramie and explain to Slim why I...ran off.” Austin swallowed his emotions.

“Oh, come now Jess it won’t come to that.” Austin cleared his throat. “I really am sorry Jess.”

“I know you are, so you’ll-?” Jess cut off not trusting himself to continue and keep himself under control.

“I promise Jess, even if I have to die to get word to your partner I’ll tell him the truth.” ‘Sheriff Len’ placed his hand on Jess’ shoulder. No one would ever be able to define the breadth of communication that passed through them at that moment. All too soon the moment was over as the front door to the jail opened.

“Len?!” Jess and Austin stood and looked at each other one last time.

“Coming!” Austin yelled out Marshal Conners. Then to Jess, “Well, I guess this is goodbye. I wish you all the luck in the world.” Pulling a pair of handcuffs out of his back pocket and looked forlornly at Jess. “I’m sorry Jess I have to put these back on.”

Jess stretched out his hands for Austin to put them on. “I know.” 

Jess fought back a flinch as the cold iron was fitted around his wrists tightly and locked. Lifting his hands up Jess looked at the iron that bound his wrists. He never could stand the feeling of being trapped in one place with no way to get out and run. He was a free spirit, and now he was giving it up to save a friend.

Feeling Austin take his arm and lead him outside to Marshal Conner; felt like he gave a piece of himself up. He only wished Slim, Daisy, Mike and Mort would understand why he had to be punished. No doubt when he arrived in Laramie they’d try to get him to talk. They wanted to find a way to help him. Hopefully they’d forgive him when he was forced to give them no answer except he was guilty. It was a cruel thing to do...

But it was necessary.

**Chapter 14**

The clip-clop of hooves was the only sound that greeted the pair as they moved through the trees. Sideways Jess caught Marshal Conners gaze as he was sized up. They hadn’t spoken a word to each other since riding out of Austin’s town. Jess still couldn’t wrap his around finding Austin going be a new name and wearing a badge.

“Is something wrong?” The Marshal’s voice made Jess cringe slightly. He had been hoping to avoid conversation for just a little longer.

“No, why?” His words sounded dull and faulty; as if Marshal Conners would be able to see through them in a heartbeat.

“You haven’t said a single word to me all day.” Jess’ mind ran in circles as he thought how to deflect the Marshal’s attention.

“I’ve just been thinking ‘bout goin’ back to Laramie. It’ll be mighty strange after…” He didn’t know were the words came from, but he’d never spoke more truth before in his life.

Marshal Conners nodded his head and scanned the scenery around him. Shifting in his saddle, Jess inwardly sighed in relief. Questions were the last thing he needed now.

* * *

Slim Sherman propped his head up with his hand at the kitchen table. Idly, in his free hand he fiddled with the telegram Daisy had given him last night. With two fingers, he pinched the bottom of the paper and let his fingers slide to the opposite side and then start over and over.

“Slim? What are you still doing up? I thought you’d went to bed hours ago.” She halted when she saw the telegram in his hand. Edging closer, Daisy sat down slowly at the kitchen table beside him. Then she gently stilled his hands. “Slim?”

He let the papers fall to the wooden table. “I can’t sleep Daisy. After you gave me…” Slim ran his fingers through his already roughened hair. “I don’t understand why he just ran off, I mean I was bleeding out on the floor and he just left. I know I shouldn’t, but all I can think is, he doesn’t care. I thought he cared…” Slim groaned. “What’s wrong with me Daisy?”

Daisy bit her lip. It cut her to the core to watch the man in front of her that she cared about so much come apart at the seams.

“Slim...there isn’t anything wrong with you. The only thing rolling around inside you is the fact that you’re human. You know Jess as much as I do. He may be as hard as iron on the outside, but he’s a good man through and through.” Daisy gripped Slim’s arm and waited until he looked at her. “We have to trust Jess now as much as we ever did. He’s family Slim. Family never stops forgiving and fighting for family.”

Weakly, Slim nodded his head at Daisy’s words. Daisy smiled.

“Now, we’d better get to bed. Morning comes early around here.” 

Slim shuffled to bed and closed the bedroom door closed behind him. Daisy watched him disappear and then blew out the lantern in the kitchen rendering the entire house dark.

* * *

The town of Laramie came into view mid-morning. Sitting in his saddle, Jess wasn’t sure if he was happy to be back in Laramie or not. This town had become his home but now he loved and hated that little town. Jess started to reach his right hand forward to scratch Traveler’s neck only to bite his lip in frustration as the irritating cuffs stalled his movements.

“Don’t worry Jess. We’ll be in Laramie in a few minutes then I can take those cuffs off.”

Jess rubbed the tender skin under the cuffs. “I might just take you up on that Marshal.”

When Jess hit the outskirts of Laramie he held his breath. Slim was pretty well respected in Laramie, much more than he could ever hope to be. Slim was born and raised here; Jess Harper was well, a visitor. Shame crept up his neck as the people he knew stared at him, tracking him with their eyes as he rode through town to the Sheriff’s Office. Suddenly, the cuffs that bound his hands seemed to be heavier and more irritating than before.

Hope swelled in his heart that Slim might be in town to meet him. Long minutes passed as he searched for Slim’s horse or the familiar wagon parked in the street. There was nothing. Slim wasn’t in town.

The ride through town only took a few minutes but to Jess it felt like it took Traveler years to reach the jail. Jess ducked his head as he caught the people he knew whispering to each other and pointing towards where he sat in his saddle.  _ This was going to be harder than he thought. _

Pulling up to the hitching rail outside the Sheriff’s Office, he waited until Marshal Conner to climbed off his horse before he dismounted himself. Slim may not be in town at the moment, but Mort was. Trepidation washed from his head to his toes as Marshal Conner pushed him through the door to the jail.

When he eyes shifted enough to be out of the bright sun, he recognized Mort standing at his desk watching him come through the door.

“Jess.” Mort nodded at him solemnly. Jess fought to keep his eyes by going to the floor.

“Sheriff.” Behind him, Marshal Conner pulled the door closed. “I’m back.”

If it was possible, Mort looked more uncomfortable than Jess did, finally being face to face after five months. An eerie silence echoed through the entire jail seemingly louder than a train whistle.

“Jess, we better get those cuffs off and get you settled. Where’s the keys to the cells Sheriff?” At Marshal Conner’s question Mort fumbled around for the keys on his desk and tossed them to the Marshal.

Leading the way Jess walked to the cells and chose one at random. The iron door clicked shut behind him and the key scraped in the lock.

“Alright Jess, let me see those hands.” Compliantly, Jess held his hands through the bars and rubbed his raw wrists when the cuffs had been completely removed. “I’ll make sure the Sheriff brings you your lunch.”

“Aw, don’t worry about it Marshal. Mort wouldn’t let me starve here. One good thing about being in jail where everybody knows you, the cook over at the Cafe knows my favorites. If I’m really good, she might even send over a piece of pie.” Jess sank onto the bunk and looked up at Marshal Conner happily.

“You’ve got to be the strangest person I’ve met. Here I thought you’d be goin’ stir crazy over having to sit for hours on end in a dirty old cell. Instead all you’re concerned about it whether you get a slice of pie with your meal today.” The Marshal pushed his hat back further on his head stare him down.

Jess chuckled. “What can I say expect it’s good to be home?”

For added emphasis, Jess stretched his legs out on the bunk and comfortably crossed his ankles. The Marshal propped his hip against the iron bars and looked at him bewildered.

“You’ve been acting pretty strange since we left. What happened? Last I knew you were determined to prove you were innocent; now you’re acting like the cat got the canary.” Jess thought about Austin’s secret. He had to protect Austin no matter the cost.

“I got my memory back. I know you wanted to help me but you can’t. I’m guilty, it’s as simple as that. I remember I got tired of doing the same chores over and over with Slim scraping in the pay. I went back to the house to quit and instead of leaving peacefully a funny little thought came through my head and I followed it. Too bad Slim’s still alive.” The words tasted like vinegar coming out, watching the Marshal flinch at his words Jess felt the hollow feeling of the lie fill his insides.

“That’s the truth?” He had to give the Marshal credit, he didn’t release a bone that easily.

“That’s the truth Marshal.” Through the bars the Marshal searched his face in an attempt to hold into a last shred of hope that he wasn’t as rotten to the core as he was making himself out to be.  _ I’m sorry… _

Finally U.S. Marshal Devin Conner turned and walked out leaving Jess alone to gnaw on the last dregs of his conscience.

* * *

Austin leaned back further in his favorite chair on the boardwalk and scanned the street outside the Saloon for the umpteenth time. Not for the first time he drug his mind back to the present as it kept wandering to his friend in Laramie standing trial for something he didn’t do. He wished day and night that things had happened differently with Johnny.

Day after day he’d lived with the fear his secret would get out. The longer time went on the more he glanced over his shoulder hoping someone wouldn’t see him for who he was; an outlaw rather than a lawman. He’d always figured when his secret got out it was him who’d take the fall for it. Now Jess was as tangled up in it as he was. It was a perfect storm.

Movement from across the street at the Saloon caught Austin’s eye. A man was walking into the Saloon that seemed vaguely familiar. Standing, Austin debated whether or not to give up his hand and walk across the street. Before he could decide movement in the back alley drew him to sneak across the street. Edging around the wooden walls of the Saloon, he strained to hear the conversation.

“What do you mean he’s still alive? Now you were paid good money to make sure Harper died before he ever reached Laramie.” The man pushed the other up against the crates stacked in the alley. “You messed up Hank, Max’ll want to talk to you personally.”

Austin stepped out of the shadows and drew his gun. “This is Sheriff Len! Come on out of there!” Austin ducked before the sound of a hammer being cocked reached his ears. 

Two shots rang out simultaneously bringing the stranger in the alley crashing to the ground. Quickly, he shuffled forward into the dark alley waiting for anything. One man laid on the ground while another stood against the Saloon wall watching as he got closer.

“Boy am I sure glad to see you.” Hank the Saloon keeper gasped out. ‘He was going to kill me Sheriff. He just came in and made me step out in the alley. Then he rambled about me poisoning someone and his Boss wanting to see me personally.”

Pressing his fingers into the strangers neck, Austin confirmed his suspicions that the man was dead. He shook his head sadly at his luck. This man, whoever he was, could have helped him clear Jess without letting out his own secret. At least he heard enough in the alley to know Hank was involved in poisoning Jess.

“Cut the crap Hank. I heard enough back there to know you and whoever this fella was were in business with each other closely. You’re responsible for trying to kill Jess Harper.” Austin shoved his gun back in his holster and jerked Hank away from the wall roughly. “Come on, we’re going to Laramie and I’m going to make sure you sing.”

**Chapter 15**

News about Jess coming into Laramie didn’t reach the Sherman Ranch until the noon stage rolled into the Ranch.The sound of the stage rattling down the road refocused Slim’ attention away from the feed bins he was busy filling. Setting the feed bag down beside the bin, Slim raised his arm in a greeting and went to greet the stage as Mose pulled it to a stop.

“Howdy Slim! Where’s young Mike?” Slim looked around and found himself alone. 

“He’s probably around here somewhere. That boy deserves a break anyhow.” Slim walked forward and started to unclip the horses from the stage.

“Did ya hear about Jess?” Mose’s words struck a chord in his heart. Not trusting himself to speak, Slim shook his head no. “The town’s buzzing because that Marshal the Territory sent after him just brought Jess back to jail. Word is the Territorial Judge should be arriving in Laramie by Monday.”

Slim’s hands stopped. “When did Jess get into Laramie?”

“Oh, early this morning I figure.” Slim bowed his head and took a deep breath, Daisy’s words from last night washing over him. “I’d have thought you’d be in Laramie already, before I could finish my sentence.”

Slim unhooked the spent horses from the stage as fast as his fingers could move. Mose meant well, but his words had cut Slim to the core.

“There’s a lot of work to do around here.” With his back turned, he could tell Mose was shocked. 

Slim took the horses by their halters and lead them to the corral so they could eat while he changed the teams. Untying the fresh horses from the coral fence he led them over to the waiting stage and hooked the traces into place. Mose glanced at his pocket watch.

“Right on time as always Slim. I’ll see you for the afternoon stage.” Slim waved goodbye as Mose climbed into his seat on the top of the coach.

Turning around, he saw Mike starting to strip the horses of their harnesses and curry them. A few strides from his long legs brought him up next to Mike. Reaching out he gathered the heavy harnesses in his arms and slung them neatly over the top rail.

“Slim?” Mike had was exchanged his curry comb for a regular soft brush. Meticulously the boy ran the brush gently through the horses hair. “Is it true Jess is back in Laramie?”

Slim closed his eyes at the question. “Yes, that’s what Mose said.”

“When do you think Sheriff Cory will let him come home?” Mike stuck the handle of the curry comb in the back pocket of his britches and used his free hand to scratch a silky neck of the horse closest to him; giggling when the horse leaned into it showing a rare form of equine affection.

“Well Mike, I don’t know. It isn’t as simple as that.” Mike stopped scratching and brushing the horse and looked up at him seriously.

“You don’t think he did it do you?” Mike went back to brushing down the horse. “Jess would never hurt you or me. Especially not Daisy. Jess didn’t shoot me, he cares about us. I bet he went after the man who did shoot you and he’s just visiting with Sheriff Cory; telling him all about how he caught the man who hurt you.”

Slim shook his head out of view of young Mike. It was always so simple to kids when they were faced with problems. He wished he had the same view of all his life struggles like Mike did. Picking up a rag, Slim rubbed down the horses thinking how to answer Mike’s question.

“Of course Jess didn’t hurt me Mike. We know that for a fact, but some people may not see it the same way. Jess won’t be coming home for a while until he can get Mort’s help.” It was so hard to make Mike understand why things were different this time than any other time Jess got into a scuffle. “Jess’ll be home soon enough. Now, these horses have had their limit of spoiling today. Why don’t you go on into the house and tell Daisy to get ready to go into town.”

Slim watched as Mike slipped through the fence and ran to the house yelling for Daisy at the top of his lungs. It might be good to find answers to this mess...

* * *

Austin pulled his horse and his prisoner’s to a halt at the top of the rise looking down on Laramie. After over half a day of hard riding he’d finally made it to this growing town. Hank was steadily looking sadder as each mile drew him closer to Laramie. It was expected Hank feared for his life from Max but Austin had to make sure the truth came out about what happened to Jess before it went any further.

Nuding his mount with his heels, Austin sent the horses cantering down into Laramie. It was easy to see why Jess had taken a liking to this sleepy town. Laramie wasn’t a big town, but it had potential to be one day. Well kept shops lined the streets of Laramie and a sparse number of citizens and drifters milled around from shop to shop.

Delicious smells wafted through the air from a Cafe making Austin’s mouth water.Soon the smells of the Cafe drifted away to be replaced by the rowdy laughter and music spilling out of the bat wing doors from the Saloon. Then the sound of a steel forge and the smell of coal burning assaulted his senses. Austin was almost sad his glimpse into the town was over when they pulled in front of the Sheriff’s Office.

Austin stepped down onto the dirt street and motioned for Hank to climb down. Once Hank had tied the horses securely to the hitching rail he pushed his prisoner to the front door of the jail. Stepping into the Office behind Hank Austin hoped he wasn’t too late.

* * *

“Come on Jess you don’t expect me to believe that!” Slim gripped the iron bars and glared down on his partner. He’d bank everything he had that Jess was taking that fall for someone else. _ Why was he being so stubborn so not to tell him the truth of why he’d gotten shot? _ “Jess you know I can help you, but you have to tell me the truth!”

“I’ve already told you the truth Slim. You just need to come to terms with that. Oh, and on your way out could you tell Mort to request a steak for dinner at the Cafe?” On the bed, Jess was sprawled out serenely making Slim being to lose his temper.

“Jess please! I have a right to know!” Slim pounded his fist against the iron bars. This was a losing battle, it was like Jess didn’t want to be saved.

“You already know the truth Slim. Now I don’t want to see you anymore.” Jess stood and put his back to Slim making to clear the conversation was over. Not once in the whole ten minutes Slim had been to see Jess, had his partner greeted him at the cell door. Slim began to argue with him, but Jess cut him off. “Get out!”

Slim shuffled out of the cell room and into the main Office as a man wearing a badge shoved another man inside.

“Sheriff Cory?” The lawman held his hand out to Mort. “I’m Sheriff Len from a small town close to Casper.”

“Close to Casper?” Mort warily shook the strangers hand.

“Oh, well the town’s so small we haven’t even named it.” The second man cast a pitiful look to the entrance he’d just come through.

“Who’s this?” Mort pointed to Sheriff Len’s prisoner.

Sheriff Len started to speak but was but off as Marshal Conner come through the door.  _ Maybe Mort should invest in a revolving door.  _ Marshal Conner and Sheriff Len looked at eachother like they knew one another well.

“Len! Why are you here?”

“I caught the culprit who poisoned Jess. I figured he may come in handy to help Jess clear his name so I brought him to Laramie as soon as possible.” All three men turned their attention to the man standing by the Sheriff.

“I’m beginning to think Jess doesn’t want his name to be cleared at all.” Slim’s voice turned the attention of the lawmen to him. “I’m Slim Sherman.”

A puzzled gaze passed Mort and the Marshal’s face at his comment yet, strangely the look didn’t grace Sheriff Len’s. It was almost as if...he already knew. Sheriff Len knew more than he let on, Slim was sure of it.

“Hmmm. So he wouldn’t talk to you either?” Mort rubbed his chin. “If I didn’t know better Jess is covering up for someone. Someone important enough to him not even to let you in Slim.”

“Not just Mr. Sherman, but everyone.” Marshal Conner turned his attention to the prisoner beside Sheriff Len. “Hank, what do you have to say for yourself?”

Hank dipped his head. “Nothing Marshal except, I’m guilty. I was the one who poisoned Jess by stopping Danny that day. I told him I’d pay him extra if he took my glass to the bar and had it refilled when I was playing poker. Danny needed the money so bad he set the tray down right away. I had more than enough time to slip the poison into the food after I’d given the house a round of drinks on the house. No one was the wiser.”

“Why? Why poison Jess when you didn’t even know him?” It was Sheriff Len who spoke up.

“I was paid to by this old man. I never saw him face to face; he always sent his men to do the work for him but they said his name was Max Carter. The leader of the Carter Gang.” Mort stepped closer.

“How’s the Carter Gang tied into this? Are they responsible for what happened to Slim?” Hank hesitated but thought better of it as he saw the three lawmen hovering over him like vultures.

“I don’t know if they’re responsible for Mr. Sherman getting shot but I do know they said they wanted Jess died to tie up loose ends. Loose ends aside, I heard Max wanted revenge on Jess for killing his oldest son. What was his name again... Joseph, no…”

“Johnny.” It was Sheriff Len who supplied the name.

“Yes that’s it!”

“Well that’s no good. While we know the Carter Gang wants Jess Harper dead we still don’t have proof or evidence that proves his innocence for shooting Slim.” Mort sat down heavily on the edge of his desk. Inside Slim felt hope fading from his heart.

“Maybe we could get Jess to help us out, now that we have Hank here.” Marshal Conner suggested. Walking over to Mort’s desk the Marshal threw the keys at Sheriff Len. “Get Jess out here with us. Maybe we can get Jess to start talking.”

* * *

Austin clutched the keys in his hand, wary of the hard gaze Mr. Sherman was giving him across the room. He was dancing on the line following Jess like he did, but his conscience wouldn’t allow him to turn his back on his friend. Rounding the corner Austin took in Jess standing with his back to the doorway.

“Jess.” Jess whirled around and stepped closer.

“What are you doing here!?” Jess hissed under his breath and cautiously looked at the entrance Austin had just walked through; expecting someone to walk through the door and discover their secret. “You’re going to get yourself hung, you know that? Max’s men will be sticking close until the trial is over. If they see you...”

“Let me worry about the Gang. Max paid the Saloon keeper to poison you. I brought him here to try and help you out of this mess.” Austin unlocked the cell door letting Jess come out. “Max doesn’t know enough to clear you of the charges, I may have to-”

“Don’t even think about it Austin. Now, we better get out there before they start asking questions.” Jess walked around Austin to lead the way out into the main office.

As Jess entered the office he avoided the gaze of Slim and Mort who looked at him expectantly. Beside Marshal Conner, was the man who he assumed was the Saloon keeper Austin had told him about. More than anything, he wanted to strangle that man with his bare hands.

“Jess do you know this man?” Marshal Conner asked him. At his back, he could feel and hear Austin standing stiffly waiting for his answer. To keep Austin’s secret he had to answer these questions carefully. If he gave too much away, questions would arise that he couldn’t answer.

“No, I’ve never met him before in my life. Should I?” Jess didn’t miss the quick glance Mort and the Marsha shared.

“Len found this man was responsible for poisoning you. Hank here also told us the Carter Gang paid him to do it. Apparently, Hank has reason to believe Max Carter is out for revenge after you killed his son is that true? How do you know Max Carter?” Austin shifted behind him and Jess sensed Austin was a hair’s-breadth away from speaking up.

“I reckon I ran into a Max along the trail adrift about five years ago. I can’t say as it’s the same man Marshal, things can get sorta hazy after five years.”

“How hard is it to remember one name? Max Carter would be a name that’d stick in your mind even after a couple years.” Marshal Conner tipped his head to the side evaluating Jess’ response.

“I’m sorry Marshal, when you’re out on the range far away from anybody most folks don’t tend to use their last names. I have no way of knowing if the same Max I knew back then is this same Max you’re talking about.”

“Come off it Jess, why are you making it so hard?” Slim burst out from his place against the back wall where he’d been standing quietly.

“I can’t give you information I don’t have! How hard is it for you to understand I’m guilty?” Jess clenched his hands purposefully. He had to make this believable.

“No you’re not Jess.” Deafening silence followed Sheriff Len’s quiet words. “You never shot Sherman, you tried to save him and came after me to save my life as well.”

“Sheriff don’t.” Jess slowly turned to face his friend.

“I’m sorry Jess, but I’m not going to let you take the fall for something you never did. It’s about time I came to terms with my secrets.” Shock registered across all the faces in the room. “Jess does know Max. My name isn’t Len, it’s Austin Carter. Max is my Pa. Five years ago my brother Johnny came across a young man wandering in the desert. That man was more of a boy really. It was Jess here. Anyway, Jess was on foot and all alone suffering from lack of water. Then Jess was about 17, my brother felt sorry for him and brought him back to our camp. I nursed him back to health.”

“Austin stop, you’ve said too much!” Austin looked sadly at Jess and shook his head.

“You’re wrong Jess, I haven’t said enough. Once Jess healed up enough to understand who we were, he was in too deep to get out. Outlaws aren’t ever pleasurable company. Johnny had a tendency to beat on Jess. One day I caught Johnny in the middle of beating Jess and he wasn’t stopping. I...I pulled him off Jess and Johnny swung at me. I had no choice but to defend myself and Jess. We exchanged a few punches and Johnny fell. I thought he was just unconscious at first. I didn’t know he was dead until my Pa returned to camp after he’d robbed a stage. Max blamed Jess for Johnny’s death and nearly killed him. I stood up for Jess and the Gang left, I’ve been traveling around on my own since then.”

“How were you pulled into it again?” Marshal Conner looked like someone had punched him in the gut.

“Max never forgave Jess for Johnny’s death even if it was my fault. He must have tracked Jess down to the Sherman Ranch and decided to take away what Jess cared about the most, Mr. Sherman.” Austin gestured to Slim. “Max set Jess up for a murder, only Jess managed to get away before Max was ready. Jess got to the Ranch in time to save your life, but not soon enough to completely stop it. Jess has spent the last five months trying to find me so I didn’t meet the same fate. Ironically, Jess didn’t find me until the Marshal brought him to me.”

“Is that true Jess?” Mort asked Jess. Grimly, Jess nodded.

“You were right Jess was covering up for someone, me. I’m wanted in several territories for murder.” Austin fell silent, he could already feel the noose forming around his neck and pinching off his air.

Deflated, Jess plopped down in a chair pulled up to Mort’s desk and ran a hand through his hair. After all the trouble he’d gone through to keep Austin’s name out of it, it was all for nothing. Austin had thrown caution in the wind and willing put himself at the mercy of the law.

Austin pulled his gun out of the holster and offered it to Marshal Conner. Time slowed to a halt as the bullets shattered the glass window panes. Jess dove out of his seat and crashed into Slim, bringing him to the floor out of the spray of bullets. Looking around the room, Jess saw everyone else on the floor clutching their guns; waiting for the gunshots to cease.

“Mort! Throw me a gun!” Carefully, Mort inched his way closer to the desk drawer where he kept Jess’ gun belt and inched it open.

Jess moved forward at a crouch the instant his gun skittered across the floor to him. Resting his shoulder against the wall under the window he double checked the cylinder. Eventually the shooting barage stopped giving Jess a chance to glance out the window.

Five men were scattered in the street purposefully sneaking closer intent on seeing the damage they’d done to the men inside. Jess pulled the hammer with a quick flick of his wrist and leveled the gun on the men through the window. Out of the corner of his eyes Jess caught Austin and Marshal Conner take their places beside him.

“It’s the Carter Gang alright.” Jess pointed to the man leading the men forward. “That’s Max Carter there.” A loud voice from Max confirmed Jess’ information.

“Can you hear me in there!?” Max yelled from where he stood boldly in the middle of the street far away from any type of cover.

Mort cocked his rifle and put the stock to his shoulder. “We hear you! What do you want!?”

Outside Max put a hand on his hip cockily. “You know what I want lawman! Send Jess Harper and my Son out and I’ll let you live!”

“That’s not open for negotiation! They stay here and you’re going to jail, Carter!” Muscles tensed as Mort’s words echoed through the street.

“Just for the tally books, what about the Saloon keeper you paid to poison me? Don’t you want him back?” Jess shrugged his shoulders at the looks he got from the multiple men around him at his dark question.

“Ha, ha!” Outside, Max cackled at Jess smart question. “That’s why I like you Jess! You hide your madness under a coat of sugar. If things had happened differently we might have gotten along!” Max laughed even harder cruely. “As for the Saloon keeper, you can keep that yellow-bellied gambler! It was never about you Jess!”

Jess’ brow furrowed in confusion.  _ How was it never about him? _

“What do you mean! Why else have I been running from the law these last months for something I didn’t do?!”

Max laughed all the harder. “If I wanted revenge on you for Johnny I never would have left you alive five years ago! Sometimes you have to sacrifice the little fish to catch the larger prize! If I framed you for the murder of your partner then you’d lead me right to the person I want! My son!” Austin locked eyes with Jess from where they huddled under the window.

Jess gritted his teeth in anger at falling into Max’s trap.

“You hear me Harper!? You’re the one that gave me what I wanted! I’ll have to thank you for that favor Jess! What do you say? Send Austin out and we leave peacefully!”

Marshal Conner pulled the hammer back on his six shooter. “Well what do you all think?” All five of them shared a dark smile.

Simultaneously, they opened fire on the vulnerable men standing in the street. Completely unprepared, the Carter Gang scrambled for safety as the rounds struck them. Three men laid motionless in the street as the remaining two members huddled behind some old crates.

“That made quick work of those rascals.” Slim spoke up as he refilled the bullets in his gun.

“Well Max is still alive, that canny coon.” Marshal Conner shifted restlessly. “I figure if he use the back door of the jail we might be able to flush him and the other man out.”

“Maybe they’ll give themselves up?” Mort suggested hopefully.

“Don’t count on it. My Pa ain’t one to give up easily.” Austin restlessly drummed his fingers on the handle of his gun. “He’s like a bull dog with a bone. Who else do you think he’s stayed free this long?”

“Carter! Give it up! It’s five against two, you’ll never survive!” Slim called out to the two men hiding behind the cover of the crates.

“Never!” Came the muffled reply.

Jess pushed away from the window and headed to the back door in a crouch. Slim called out at him to stop but he ignored it. He wasn’t going to wait a second later to get Max being bars or in the ground; whichever came first. Clearing the back door, he snuck through the back alley.

Soon he was less than ten feet away from where the outlaws were hiding. Jess pressed his back against the wall trying to get as much cover as possible before he made his position known.

“Come out with your hands up!” His deep voice growled. He gave into the honed instinct to duck as a volley of bullets whisted over his head.

Fanning his hand he emptied his gun, waited for return fire that never came. Pushing to his feet Jess crept forward wishing he had his gun belt so he had extra ammunition. Abruptly, he rounded the crates and took in the scene before him. Both men were dead, lying in their own blood.

The Marshal came up beside him with his gun drawn. Sadly he looked down at the men and stuffed his gun back in its holster.

“You certainly know how to get things over with quickly.” Jess let out a bark of laughter.

“That’s one way to look at it.” He turned and went back inside the Jail. He didn’t have to turn around to know the Marshal had followed him.

Pushing through the doorway his eyes scanned everyone inside for injuries. Hank the Saloon keeper was still leaned against the wall under the window looking shaken but alive. Slim was busy picking up his spent casings and didn’t seem hurt in the slightest. The same thing went for Mort.

“Jess-” Austin stood in the middle of the room looking at a growing stain of blood spilling over his hand. Jess raced forward and grasped Austin’s shoulders right as his legs gave out on him.

Jess guided Austin gently to the floor and pulled his hand away from the gunshot wound in his stomach. An untold amount of blood seeped through Austin’s shirt and onto the floor.

“Jess I-”

“Shhh. Don’t talk, the Doctor’ll be here and minute and he’ll patch you up in no time. It’ll be like it ever happened.” Jess put his weight on the wound trying to stall the bleeding until the Doctor arrived.

“Pa, is he?” Austin gasped out the words out through his pain.

“He’s dead. I’m sorry Austin.” As the blood continued to flow showing no sign of stopping, Jess knew there was no chance Austin was going to live.

“Don’t be...had no choice. Jess, thanks.” Jess leaned over his fallen friend.

“Thanks for what?” His arms trembled with his aching heart.

“You gave me a chance...to live. Thank you. Partner.” Austin let out his last breath. Jess stared down at his dead friend in shock.

“Jess are you alright?” Slim sidled up next to him.

“It’s strange isn’t it? The way you could be alive one moment and gone the next. There’s no lights, no ruckus. Just gone.” Slim gripped Jess’ shoulder. “I tried to protect him like he did to me five years ago, but I didn’t cut it. I failed. I knew him for a shorter time than I knew you yet, why does it hurt so bad?”

Slim took an offered blanket from Mort and gently spread it across Austin’s frame. It concerned him to see such a hollow look in Jess’ eyes.

“Because you two had the same partnership you and I have, given the chance. Loyalty bound you too together five years ago and still lives to this day. I must admit it was a shock when you left without any explanation. I thought… Never mind what I thought. I understand why you did it now. Loyalty is one of your strongest traits. You’ve always been loyal to me, Daisy, Mike and Austin. I’m sure Austin was grateful that you looked out for him to the end.” Slim gently pulled Jess to his feet and clapped his shoulder. 

“Come on Pard, let’s go home.”


End file.
